What If
by ibelieveinsnorkacks
Summary: “Have you ever wondered what would happen if Voldemort never existed? What if we went back in time and saved my parents? What if we saved my parents, Sirius, Dumbledore, Frank and Alice Longbottom What if we stopped Voldemort from ever killing them?
1. Time Turners Discovered

**What If?**

**Chapter One-Time Turners Discovered**

A/N: hey guys! Just so you guys know the basic plotline of this story, it's what (in my world) would have happened if Voldemort had never killed Lily and James or anyone else that he did. And just so u guys kno, I really wouldn't mind if you pressed that little button placed conveniently at the bottom of you screen! (you kno, the one that says "Submit a Review" and just keeps calling your name.) hope you guys like this cuz its my first ff. (I have another one that I submitted b4 this one, but I started _What If _awhile before I wrote that one. For anyone that's interested it's a _Titanic _one-shot called _Going Home._ ) Oh, and just so u guys know, in a couple of chapters I put in some song lyrics, but while I'm typing this, my internet is down, so if the words aren't exactly right, don't hurt me! I have to do it by memory, but my memory sux…so for any hard-core Linkin Park and Hoobastank fans out there, (and any fans of the other songs I use) don't kill me if the lyrics are wrong! Im sorry! Oh, and this story takes place after Half-Blood Prince, so if you haven't read that yet, don't you dare read this ff! it'll give to much away and you won't understand a lot of it.

anyway, here it is! ibelieveinsnorkacks

Disclaimer: A couple weeks ago I had this really awesome dream where I went to Hogwarts, and my incredibly strange mind was the one that had thought of the whole HP world, but then my alarm clock woke up, and my name wasn't Joanne Rowling anymore.

**Harry Potter lay on his four-poster bed, thinking. It was three days after Dumbledore's funeral, and they still hadn't fixed the Hogwarts Express. The students had all gotten on after the funeral, as planned, but when the driver had tried to start the train, the engine had blown up. Normally, any of the staff could have fixed this problem with a _Reparo_ spell, but there were too many little pieces. A new engine was on it's was, but this too was taking awhile. So, as Harry lay on his bed reflecting on the events of the past week, he could not help but feel that he was going to be here for a very long time indeed.**

**_Well, at least I can spend some more peaceful time with Ron and Hermione before looking for those Horcruxes, _Harry thought with a sigh. **

**Hearing people coming up the staircase, Harry leaped up and grabbed his invisibility cloak, not wanting to have to deal with the questions of his dorm mates, as it was now common knowledge that Harry had been there when Dumbledore died. Throwing the cloak on himself, Harry grabbed the Marauders Map, and turned to face the door, just as it banged open, knocking him over, so that the cloak showed part of his leg and his glasses went flying somewhere to the right of him.**

"**Harry! Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you hurt?"**

**Harry could make out a bush of brown through the haze that accompanied him when he lost his glasses.**

"**Oi, you ok mate?"**

**Something tall, lanky, and red helped him to his feet.**

"**Ron, Hermione?" Squinting, Harry could just make out the forms of his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.**

"**Here you go", chuckling, Ron handed him his glasses, which, surprisingly, hadn't broken when they fell.**

**Muttering a quick word of thanks, Harry got up and brushed himself off.**

"**I was about to go for a walk, do you guys want to come with me?" Harry asked, looking at them through his newly reinstated vision.**

"**Harry, you know we're not supposed to leave our common rooms after dark, it's not allowed." **

**_Trust Hermione to say something like that._ Harry thought, somewhat amused.**

"**Has that ever stopped me before?"**

**After a few minutes, Ron and Harry finally succeeded in persuading Hermione to come with them.**

**Walking the corridors, Harry was keeping watch on the Marauders Map, when suddenly he bumped into a suit of armor. Falling, the cloak was wrenched off Hermione, while Ron tripped on the cloak and fell on top of Harry. Trying to untangle themselves from each other and the invisibility cloak, they failed to notice the black dot labeled Minerva McGonagall moving swiftly towards them, from one end of the corridor. Finally back on their feet, Harry grabbed the map, while Ron grabbed the cloak. Noticing the black dot, Harry gasped, looking around for an empty classroom. Finding one, he pushed Ron and Hermione in, closing the door behind himself not a moment to late. Ahs the door clicked shut, McGonagall turned the corner, where she would have had a clear view of the three. Looking around, he saw Ron and Hermione sitting on desks behind him. **

"**I think we're in McGonagall's room" Hermione whispered.**

**Looking around once again, Harry and Ron saw that she was right.**

"**I wonder if she's cleaned out her desk yet." Ron said curiously.**

"**I dunno, let's go find out." Harry replied, equally curious.**

"**No, we mustn't, that's Professor McGonagall's private chambers, we can't go in there!"**

"**Hermione, in case you haven't noticed, now that Dumbledore's gone, she's headmistress, which means she gets Dumbledore's old office."**

"**Yes, but Harry, it's still not right." **

"**Alright, then you stay here while Ron and I go."**

**Ron, who had by this time already opened the door, walked in.**

"**Blimey, I always knew she was neat, but this is crazy!" exclaimed Ron.**

**Harry, who had just walked in the room, followed by a huffing Hermione, couldn't agree more.**

**Even though she hadn't been in her office for almost a week, there was not one speck of dust in the whole room. Every book had a neat, tidy place on a book shelf, her desk top was void of all papers, the candles looked as though they had never been used, and even the fireplace didn't have a speck of ash in it, the logs sitting in a neat little pile.**

**Opening her desk drawers, Harry found nothing in any of the drawers on the left. Ron, however, who was looking in the drawers on the right, had just opened the last drawer on the bottom.**

"**Bloody hell, what's all this stuff doing here?" Ron asked, his eyes wide in shock.**

"**What is it Ron?" asked Hermione, who was sitting in an armchair near the fire with her arms crossed.**

"**Just about everything that McGonagall has ever taken from a student before!" Ron exclaimed, still wide eyed.**

**With Harry's help, the two boys managed to empty everything from the drawer (which must have had an expanding charm placed on it) onto the floor.**

**Sorting through everything, they laid it all into a line, finding everything from Puking Pastilles to Fanged Frisbees, occasionally with comments like "Harry, it's your rubber haddock's head from the sword fight we had in 4th year! Remember, we used Fred and George's fake wands!" and **

"**Look, it's a love potion! It's even got a name on it…_Romilda Vane…_well, at least that's one less potion for her to spike my drink with…" Harry even found an old suitcase full of dungbombs, acid pops, Filibusters Fireworks, jelly slugs, biting teacups, and other forms of a mischief makers tools that had belonged to Sirius Black and James Potter. But the very last thing they found was the one that most shocking. Holding a thin, gold chain up, Hermione had found…**

"**My Time Turner!" **

Ok, theres chappie one! Press the button! You know you want to!


	2. Not Again!

**Chapter Two-Not Again!**

"**Your _what_?" questioned Ron, who hadn't been filled in on how Hermione had been getting to classes that were at the same time in their 3rd year.**

"**My Time Turner. I got it in 3rd year, that's how I was able to get to all of my classes, but it exhausted me so much that I turned it in at the end of the year." Hermione then went on to fill him in on how she and Harry had saved Sirius and Buckbeak.**

"**I always wondered what happened that night. You kept this from me for three years!" Ron shouted, nearly alerting Mrs. Norris, who was turning the corner from the corridor outside of Professor McGonagall's classroom. **

"**Guys, we'd better go, I think McGonagall is coming!" Harry observed. And so she was, the black dot labeled Minerva **

**McGonagall was hurrying in the direction of her old office. **

"**Uh oh…er…we'd better get this stuff back into her drawer." Ron hurried to stuff everything back into the drawer.**

"**Oh, move over! _Wingardium Leviosa_!" Hermione swished and flicked her wand, and soon everything they had taken out was soaring into the drawer as one solid mass. On a random thought, Harry lunged forward and grabbed the Time Turner and his dad's suitcase. Turning them into miniatures, he stuffed them into his pocket, grabbed the map and cloak and threw it onto himself, Hermione, and Ron. Leaving the office quickly, they scurried down the steps and waited for McGonagall, as she opened the door, stepping into her classroom, and looked around. Slipping out the door, which she had left open, Harry, Ron, and Hermione hurried back to the Gryffindor common room. Putting the map, suitcase, and cloak back into his trunk, Harry returned down to the now empty common room to join Ron and Hermione. They were sitting quiet close to each other, on a loveseat in front of the fire, with their hands almost touching. Harry stood there silently, grinning to himself. Starting this year, Hermione and Ron had been showing more then friendly feelings towards each other, they had just never done anything about it. When it seemed obvious that nothing else was going to happen between the two, Harry made his way down into an armchair next to their couch. The three of them sat there, for about another hour or so, in silence. But it was not an awkward silence, as each was in their own world at the moment. **

**The next morning, Harry awoke to find a disgruntled Ron making his way sleepily towards the shower.**

"**Mornin'" Harry called groggily.**

**His only reply was a "mph" muffled by an enormous yawn from Ron.**

**After they showered and dressed, they went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Not at all surprisingly, Hermione was waiting at their usual spot at the table with their schedules for their remaining time at Hogwarts. Even though they were not going to continue with lessons (how could they, now that Dumbledore was gone?) the students still had schedules with things like:**

**9 A.M. Swim in the Lake**

**10 A.M. Free time in common rooms**

**10:30 A.M. Free time in Great Hall with all houses**

**They were mainly assigned things just to take up time, and took keep students minds off Dumbledore so they couldn't mope around in their dorms or common rooms. Even the ghosts were kept busy. But Harry's thoughts weren't with his schedule, that was apparent, but instead, up in his dorms, on his bedside table with the, still miniature, suitcase and Time Turner. Something was forming in his head, something he couldn't explain, like a thought that had been planted there by someone else. This thing kept nagging him over the next couple of days, so that by the 5th day of being overdue at Hogwarts, a plan was starting to form in his mind. A plan about what, he wasn't sure, but he would soon find out.**

**One of the activities that the teachers planned to help the depressed students was a ball, similar to the Yule Ball held two years before, when the Triwizard Tournament had come to Hogwarts, resulting in the death of Cedric Diggory and the return of Voldemort. This idea, which was greeted by enthusiasm from most of the girls, was in turn greeted by liberal amounts of panic from the boys. As their first and only attempts at asking the girls they liked to a ball had both been failures, Harry and Ron were seen to be stressing the most.**

**Although Harry was one-hundred percent sure Ron was going to ask Hermione, and equally as sure that she would agree, Ron was still looking as pale as when he'd backfired a spell at Malfoy and ended up belching slugs. Harry, however, had no idea who he was going to ask, as he had broken up with the only girl he cared about the day of Dumbledore's funeral, Ginny. He was also very nervous at the prospect of Romilda Vane trying to slip him a love potion again. So, three days before the ball, the boys decided it was once again time for action. They both set out with hopes of finding a date for the ball, Ron set on Hermione, and Harry deciding that he would ask whichever girl that he knew well found him first. So, awhile later, Harry and Ron met up in the common room.**

"**Did you ask Hermione?" questioned Harry. This was however, unnecessary, for the look on Ron's face said it all.**

"**Yeah…"**

"**And she said…….?"**

"**Yes."**

"**Ron, that's fantastic!" Harry couldn't be happier for them both, they had finally taken one step closer to being a couple, and Harry was hopeful that they might actually be one by the end of the ball.**

"**So, how about you, who'd you ask?" Asked Ron, who was sill beaming as he settled into an armchair.**

"**Oh, um, well I asked Ginny, since well, you know, I still like her and all."**

"**So what'd she say?"**

"**Sure, but she made it perfectly clear that we're going as friends. I think she's still a little mad that I broke up with her."**

"**Well, she'll just have to get over that eventually."**

"**I guess."**

**The day before the ball the students were allowed to go into Hogsmeade to buy new dress robes if they needed them. Ron, who still fit into a pair of robes that Fred and George had bought him, stayed behind while Hermione and Harry went to buy new ones, as their robes from the Yule Ball went down to their knees. When they came back, Harry had a pair of deep blue robes that brought out his eyes, while Hermione had a silky, minty-green set of robes along with several bottles of**

**Sleakeasy's Hair Potion so her hair would be soft, smooth, and shiny. They deposited their parcels in their rooms, then met Ron and went about their day as usual.**

**When they day of the ball arrived, the teachers gave the students the entire day off so they could do whatever needed to be done to prepare. When the sun was just starting to set, Ron and Harry went down to the common room, where Ginny and Hermione were waiting, talking happily. Hermione had put her hair into an elegant twisted bun, with two silver earrings dangling down. Her eye shadow was a soft color that matched her robes. Ginny was in robes of a deep, emerald green that went well with her hair and eyes. Her hair was also in a bun, though it was not twisted and had two strands of hair hanging down, framing her face. Her earrings were simple diamonds that went with a matching silver necklace. Her cheeks were a shade of pink that gave the appearance of a natural flush, and her eye shadow was a light shimmering powder, void of any color. **

**Slowly taking in her beauty, Harry moved down to meet her, and they made their way into the Great Hall. When they danced together, Harry and Ginny were closer then ordinary friends would have been, but not as close as a couple, like Ron and Hermione were doing. The ball passed without event, and when the ball was over, he and Ginny made their way to the common room, amid glares from what Ginny had dubbed the HPFC, or Harry Potter Fan Club. They bid each other goodnight at the stair cases leading them to different dorms, while Ginny went to sleep and Harry dressed for bed then stayed up to wait for Ron, who had still been dancing with Hermione when he and Ginny had left, even though the ball was technically supposed to be over.**

"**So?" **

"**So what?"**

"**Did you do it?" **

"**I don't know what you're talking about." came Ron's reply. Harry sighed exasperatedly. Ron had had the perfect chance to ask Hermione out and once again he had failed to do so. _Oh, well, he'll do it when he's ready _Harry thought, shaking his head slightly.**

**At breakfast the next morning, there was an awkward silence emitting from Hermione and Ron, who were both obviously disappointed that Ron hadn't asked her out. The rest of the day passed the same way, with neither offering much conversation. That night, back in the boy's dormitory, the three friends were lounging around on Harry's bed, Ron and Hermione glancing at the other when they thought they wouldn't be seen. However, Harry was oblivious to what was going on around him. He was staring at the suitcase with his dads and Sirius' old stuff in it, then looking at the Time Turner. Back to the suitcase, and then back to the Time Turner.**

"**Err…..guys…. I have an idea." Harry said, as the plan in his messy black haired head started to become clear.**

**Ron and Hermione turned to stare at him. He had a very peculiar look on his face. There was a mixture of excitement, anxiety, fear, bravery, determination, and love shining through him.**

"**What is it Harry?" Hermione asked, seeing the look on his face.**

"**Have you ever wondered what would happen if Voldemort never existed? What if we went back in time and saved my parents? What if we saved my parents, Sirius, Dumbledore, Frank and Alice Longbottom, and every other innocent person killed by him? What if we stopped Voldemort?"**

And that's where I got my story summary from ;) what'd you guys think? If you like it, pleasepleasepleaseplease review! It'll give me this wonderful fuzzy feeling in my stomach and ill be extremely happy, and ive learned that I write better when im in a good mood (who doesn't?)! heck, even if you hate the story, please review! Just don't be too harsh…


	3. Time Turners Turned

**Chapter Three-Time Turners Turned**

"**Harry, mate, are you feeling alright?" asked Ron, looking startled as he peered at Harry.**

"**Ron, of course I'm all right, do you know what that would mean if we went back in time and stopped Voldemort before he killed my parents?" Harry questioned, growing more and more excited.**

"**Harry, do you really think we could actually save your **

**parents?" Hermione looked scared as she said this.**

"**Why not? Voldemort wouldn't know about me yet, and if we altered the past, I would get to grow up with my parents, Sirius wouldn't go to Azkaban, and Neville's parents wouldn't be tortured to insanity by Bellatrix, who would in turn never kill Sirius!"**

"**Harry, that's good an all, but would we still know each other? I mean, what if we changed the future so much that we never meet?"**

"**Ron, I doubt that'll happen. Apparently we were meant to be best friends, so we probably will be."**

"**But, Harry, what if your parents were meant to…well, die. What if we save them from V-Voldemort, but they end up dying anyway?"**

"**If we save them, then the only way they're going to die is of old age Hermione. I won't let them die. They've already died once, I won't let it happen again."**

**Later that day, during free time, while the rest of the school was walking along the shore of the lake, getting their feet wet, or just lying down, looking at the clouds and talking, the three friends were preparing to go on a mission in another time period. **

**Since Professor McGonagall was helping chaperone everyone outside, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had snuck into Dumbledore's (or was it hers?) office. They were there because Hermione, being the logical thinker of the three, had reminded Ron and Harry that they had to do something about the Horcruxes. So, since Harry had seen Dumbledore store the memories he got about Voldemort in a cabinet, which they new for a fact that McGonagall hadn't cleaned out yet (they had overheard her talking to Flitwick), they hoped that Dumbledore would have left some kind of clue as to Voldemort's most important murders, so they could know when he made the Horcruxes. Once they were inside, they headed to the cabinet and opened the drawer. It, like McGonagall's, had been enlarged. Inside were the various memories, along with some newspaper clippings. Taking these out, the three started to look through them. All were about murders made by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Six of these were circled in Dumbledore's favorite green ink. One of these was a newspaper clipping describing Moaning Myrtle's death.**

"**These must be the murders Dumbledore was talking about!" Harry exclaimed, looking at them.**

"**So all we have to do is go back to when these happened, follow Voldemort after it happens, then break the horcruxes after he's put a piece of his soul into it, then twist the time turner the other way, and come back." Hermione said.**

"**You mean this thing can go into the future?" Ron said, looking excited.**

"**Only if the future has already happened. For example, I couldn't go forward twenty years from now, because it hasn't happened yet. I can only go forward if I've gone back." Hermione explained patiently.**

"**Oh." Ron looked disappointed by this news. **

**After they, or rather Hermione, had done the math, they went back in time to Voldemort's first murder, Moaning Myrtle's. When they were back in time, they left the Head's office and started down to the Slytherin common room, as Harry and Ron knew where it was. They waited outside for someone to come in or out. Thankfully, that didn't have to wait long. A Slytherin girl that could have been Pansy Parkinson's grandmother gave the password ("Serpentine) and stepped through. Hermione, Ron, and Harry scramble after her, barely making it before the door closed on them. Looking around, Harry spotted Riddle and prodded the others and pointed at him. They were about to move closer when he stood up and walked straight toward them. Remembering that they were in front of the entrance, Hermione grabbed Rona and Harry and moved them out of the way. Riddle stepped out, being unknowingly being followed by a "blood traitor", a "half-blood", and a "mudblood". They followed him down to near the girl's bath room, Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He stood outside and started to speak in parsel tongue. **

"**_Come, monster of Slytherin! Quench your taste for blood, come slack your bloodlust! Fulfill your noble purpose!"_**

**As Hermione and Ron looked at him questioningly, Harry translated quietly to them. They shivered when they heard what the strange hissings meant. Then all three heard a sound that made their blood run cold. There was a shriek of surprise and fear, and suddenly Riddle was smiling a cold, evil smile. **

**He hurriedly walked back to the common room, still smirking, but this time he closed the entrance door before Harry, Hermione, and Ron could get in. They had no reason to worry though, because soon he was coming back out, this time holding a diary that they all recognized. Following him hurriedly, the three friends walked awkwardly, trying not to make a sound, yet going as fast as they could. Riddle lead them into an old classroom, where he stood in front of the teacher's desk, placing the diary on it. He then stepped back, placed his wand on his chest, and said something in a language that none of them could understand, but that sounded evil and sinister. Removing his wand, Riddle gasped as something glowing, faint and gold, came out of his chest . Harry was reminded of removing a memory for a pensieve. Riddle touched the tip of his wand and the gold piece of his soul to the book, which absorbed the soul piece, and also started to glow. Waiting a few seconds and breathing hard, Riddle then picked up the diary, and turned to leave. **

**Once they were back in the Slytherin common room, Riddle brought the diary up to his dorm and put it on his bed. Once Riddle was gone, Hermione took the diary and caught it on fire.**

"**One down, five to go."**

**Once they got back to Dumbledore's study, Harry, Ron, and Hermione moved on to the next murder. This went on for awhile, with Hermione doing the math, then the three of them going back in time. Soon, they had destroyed all of the Horcruxes. They destroyed the diary, Slytherin's locket, Huffelpuff's goblet, the Guant's ring, Ravenclaw's wand, and killed Nagini. When they got back after this last conquest (which had been the most difficult), they left the office and joined everyone outside, just in time to hear McGonagall telling everyone to go in.**

**The next day, they had the entire day free. They went outside and sat beneath a tree next to the lake. They had each grabbed a knapsack and filled it with various items from Fred and George's shop, like Peruvian Darkness powder, hats, gloves, and cloaks charmed with the Shield Spell, invisibility raincoats, and other items that they might find useful. Harry also had his dads invisibility cloak, along with the still tiny trunk of junk and the Marauders Map, just in case they were seen by Lily or James, in which case they might need to convince them that they were not the results of Dark Magic, and that they were, in fact, James & Lily's son and his friends from the future.**

**Once they were sure they had everything they needed, Hermione pulled out a sheet of parchment and a quill.**

"**Ok, we're going to have to do a fair bit of math to find out how many times we'll need to spin the Time Turner to go back to the night when Harry's parents were killed, seventeen years ago on Halloween."**

**Once they had figured out that, since Harry was 16 at the moment and 1 when they died and it was currently the year 2005, Lily and James had been killed October 31, 1990. They then had to figure out how many spins would take them back to Halloween, so they could travel directly back through the years. **

**Hermione, being the smartest of the three, was doing the math on her parchment.**

"**If one turn takes us back an hour, then twenty-four turns would take us back a day. Today is June May 31st, so we need to go back seven months. If there are four weeks per month, seven days per weeks, then there's one-hundred ninety-six days in seven months. If there's twenty-four hours in a day, then one-hundred ninety-six days is four-thousand, seven-hundred four hours in seven months. So to get to Halloween, we need to spin the Time Turner four-thousand, seven-hundred four times." Concluded Hermione.**

"**I'm not going to even ask how you got that Hermione." Harry said, looking dazed.**

"**Good, because it would be wasting time. If we need to turn this thing four-thousand, seven-hundred four times, then we might as well get started, because this is going to take a long time."**

**So, four-thousand, seven-hundred four turns later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione found themselves in the deserted grounds. Hurrying up to the castle to make sure they didn't mess anything up, they found themselves looking through the window into the crowded Great Hall. It was indeed covered in the usual Halloween decorations.**

"**Good job Hermione!" Ron exclaimed, rubbing his sore hands.**

"**Yes, well, don't thank me yet, if we're going to go back in time fifteen years, it's going to take a lot more turns then a couple thousand."**

**Taking out her parchment and quill again, Hermione started to work again, while Harry and Ron stood guard, watching for anyone that might see them.**

**After several minutes, Hermione sighed and rubbed her hands.**

"**Ok, I think I've got it, but you're not going to be happy about the numbers I got. If there are four-thousand, seven-hundred four hours in seven months, then there are twenty three-thousand, five-hundred twenty hours in a year. If we need to go back fifteen years, then we need to find out how many hours in fifteen years, which is three-hundred fifty-two thousand, eight-hundred. So we need to spin the Time Turner three-hundred fifty-two thousand, eight-hundred times. We might want to add a couple of extra spins, five or so, to make sure that we have time to get to Godric's Hollow before Harry's parents are killed. So, we should probably start turning. One of you start, my hands are tired from writing the math down."**

**Looping the chain around their necks, they each took turns turning, first Ron, then Harry, then Hermione, all of them keeping count out loud, making sure not to get distracted, and passing the Time Turner quickly to each other, so it wouldn't take them back to early. **

**Once Harry had finished the last turn, he dropped the Time Turner wearily, then waited as he felt himself being thrown back into time along with Ron and Hermione. They found themselves sucked into a whirlwind of space, time, and color. They could see figures moving quickly past them, blurry and undistinguished. They could hear voices speaking in high pitched nonsense, just like when someone rewound a movie on the telly. They couldn't see each other, just the shapes hurtling past them. This went on for quiet a while, when finally, it just stopped. Collapsing on the ground, Harry raised his head and looked around. They were still under the window at Hogwarts, the grounds still deserted, yet when they looked in the window, they could tell this was not the same batch of students that had been there before. **

**Getting up, then helping Hermione up, Ron was dusting himself off, looking shaken, but excited.**

"**Bloody hell, can we do that again?" he asked, practically bouncing on his toes.**

"**No, Ronald, we have to go." Hermione said exasperatedly. **

**Walking through the Hogwarts grounds, Ron, Harry, and Hermione looked around. Everything looked the same. The Giant Squid was swimming lazily around the lake, one or two tentacles waving in the breeze. Hagrid's hut was still there, and the Whomping Willow was creaking ominously. When they had reached Hogsmeade and were standing outside the Hog's Head, Harry stepped forward and stuck his right arm out, hoping that the Knight Bus existed back then. Luckily, it did. As Harry lowered is arm, he heard the shrieking tires that only went along with the violently purple bus that was screeching down the road towards them, causing shoppers to leap out of its path. As it skidded to a halt, a wizard of around twenty-five stepped out, looking remarkably like Stan Shunpike in all his pimply glory.**

"'**Ello, and welcome to the Knight Bus, transportation for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Dan Shunpike and I will be your conductor for this evenin'." Dan said, reading off a little note card. **

"**Er, hi. Do you know the way to Godric's Hollow?" Harry asked, somewhat nervously.**

" **Course. Ernie here can drive anywhere in Europe, so long as it's not under wa'er. Ern can't do nuffink under wa'er."**

"**Oh, uh, right then, three for Godric's Hollow then." Harry stuttered. The likeliness between Dan and Stan was unnerving him. He figured that Dan was probably Stan's dad.**

"**Right, that'll 'e eleven sickles each."**

"**Oh, er…." Harry suddenly remembered he hadn't thought to bring money even though it had been his idea to use the Knight Bus.**

"**Harry, honestly." Hermione rolled her eyes and stuffed thirty-three sickles and Dan's hand. **

"**Thanks Hermione." Harry and Ron said gratefully.**

**After they had settled into their chairs, Harry looked up to the driver's armchair, where he saw a younger looking Ernie. As the bus started with a bang, threw Harry, Hermione, and Ron into the back of their chairs. When they finally screeched to a stop, the sun was sinking into the gold flecked sky, staining the clouds a deep pink. They were there. They were one step closer to saving Harry's parents. They had finally made it to Godric's Hollow. **

And the plot thickens! I had to do all that stupid frickin math myself, so it

should be right, but I'm not sure…I don't think any of you are going to want to check it though…ok, well you know that little button I was telling you about earlier? it's speaking to you. Its saying "press me! Press me! Press me! **PRESS ME DANGIT**!" erm…ok, you get the point…….REVIEW! (please?)


	4. Saving Lily and James

**Chapter Four-Saving Lily and James**

**Harry got out of the Knight Bus and looked around. Godric's Hollow was a two-story cottage made of brick. In front there was a garden, full with blooming flowers that were spreading scents everywhere. There was a pond on their right, with a small waterfall bubbling over rocks into the waiting pool below. The chimney had smoke curling lazily out of it, as the night was somewhat chilly. Behind the house was the backyard, and beyond that was a clump of trees, making a small forest that gave shade if you wanted to lie down in the grass. To their left was a clump of bushes with flower buds waiting to open. Ron and Hermione were standing beside him, gazing around.**

"**It's beautiful." Hermione said quietly.**

**Harry agreed with her, but had no time to tell her this as the front door was starting to open.**

"**Quick, in the bushes!" Ron said, looking towards the house.**

**As they scrambled to make themselves unseen, they heard a voice.**

"**That's weird I could have sworn I heard a bang. Oh well." Harry poked his head put of the bushes in time to see a flash of red disappearing into the house.**

"**Mum…" Harry mumbled quietly.**

"**Harry, I just thought of something." Hermione said as the door shut.**

"**What?"**

"**Well, how were we able to get here if they performed the Fidelius Charm?" Hermione asked, looking puzzled.**

"**I-" Harry never got to finish his sentence, but Hermione's question was to be answered anyway.**

**Ducking back into the bushes, the three friends watched as the door opened again and a tall, handsome, messy haired man came out, followed by a pretty red-head holding a baby with a small tuft of black hair.**

"**Harry…it's you!" Ron whispered excitedly.**

"**This is not normal!" Harry exclaimed, for while he knew the baby was him, the black haired man looked exactly like an older him. It was like looking at yourself at the beginning of your life, then the middle, when you had grown up.**

"**James, are you sure we'll be safe until Peter and Sirius get here?" asked Lily, looking anxious.**

"**Lily, don't worry, we'll be fine without the Fidelius Charm for an hour and a half, and when they get here, we'll which secret keepers to Peter, like Sirius wanted, and we'll be completely safe again. It's already five thirty, so we don't have too much longer to wait." James said, in a soothing voice. **

"**I hope your right." Lily said, looking a little bit better.**

"**Don't worry, everything will be fine, now, lets get those potatoes you needed for dinner and we'll get Harry here into bed so he can take a nap before dinner, ok?"**

"**Ok."**

**Harry watched as they walked over to a part of the garden in the back and bent down, straitening up again when they each had three potatoes. They walked back inside with their arms wrapped around each other, smiling down at the baby Harry and talking to him in low voices.**

**Harry sat there, feeling slightly nauseous, while Hermione looked on the verge of tears and Ron was extremely pale.**

"**They really loved you, didn't they?" he asked in a shaky voice.**

"**And each other." Hermione added sounding weak.**

**Harry just nodded faintly.**

**They sat there and waited, as darkness came steadily.**

**Then, just as Ron's watch beeped six o'clock, there was a pop, and Sirius stood on the front porch to the cottage. Knocking, he stood and waited till James opened the door to let him inside. **

**Harry stood, beckoning Ron and Hermione to follow him. Draping the cloak around themselves, they walked to an open window in the living room, where Lily, James, and Dumbledore now sat on couches.**

"**Is Wormtail here yet?" Sirius asked them.**

"**No, he should be here any minute though." Lily replied.**

**Almost as soon as she had said this, emerald flames burst into life in the hearth, and the three friends stood out of the way of the fireplace and waited as a chunky, mousy looking man stepped out of the fireplace. Peter looked the same as he did in Harry's third year, but with more hair, and fewer lines on his face. He wasn't as twitchy as he would become later in life either.**

"**Hullo Wormtail!" James said cheerfully.**

"**Oh, hello Prongs." Peter replied, but without James' cheer.**

"**Hello Peter." Lily said warmly.**

"**Hi Lily" Peter said, smiling awkwardly.**

"**Hey Wormtail, ready to get this done?" Sirius said while Lily, and James pulled out their wands.**

**Peter nodded, looking extremely nervous.**

**James and Lily each placed the tips of their wands on his heart, and simultaneously stated "We, James and Lily Potter, do hereby place, with his consent, Peter Pettigrew in the position of secret keeper of Godric's Hollow and all of it's residents. _Non trovare"_**

**As they finished, purple and blue streaks shot out from their wands and intertwined around Peter, more and more appearing, until he was covered in a haze of shimmering **

"**Would you like to stay for awhile, Wormtail?" James asked.**

"**Er, no, I have something I need to do..." Peter stuttered.**

"**Yeah, like betray your friends." Harry muttered angrily.**

"**Ok, well, I'll see you around then." James bid Peter as he flooed away, no doubt to tell his master of what had happened.**

**James hurried up the stairs as Lily called his name. **

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat down on the bench out on the porch, and waited for a crazed psychotic freak in a cloak to come through the gate.**

**At around 8:45, right after the Potter's had put Harry to bed (he had put up quite a fight about taking a shower), the gate swung creakily open. Harry turned his head from the house so fast that he was sure that he had done some damage to his neck. Walking slowly up the cobblestones leading to the house was a figure in a hooded black cloak. The hood was pulled up, hiding the figures face, but Harry could make out two glowing scarlet eyes. Harry signaled for Ron and Hermione to stay silent. Harry stared at the figure walking slowly, thinking about everything he had ever done. He killed Dumbledore, Lily, and James, leaving Harry as an orphan. He had sent Harry a fake vision depicting Sirius being tortured, causing Harry to run to the Ministry of Magic, endangering his friends (though they had willingly come), and had met up with Death Eaters that were waiting for him. One of these Death Eaters had been Bellatrix Lestrang, Sirius' cousin and murderer. She had tortured Neville's parents to insanity, on Voldemort's orders. Everything came back to Voldemort. He was the reason Harry never knew his parents, never had a loving family, never had someone he could call "Dad" or "Mum". He was the reason Harry suffered, along with every other wizarding and muggle family that had ever lost someone to him or the Death Eaters. Hate and anger started boiling up inside Harry, tingeing his sight with streaks of red. He leaped out from under the cloak, and forced all of his anger, all of his hate, into one spell.**

"**_Avada Kedavra!"_**

**A huge streak of green light, bigger then any spell Harry had ever seen, including the killing curses aimed at him from Voldemort, raced through the air. Voldemort turned just in time to get hit in the chest with it. Instead of crumpling on the ground like what would normally happen, Voldemort's body went flying threw the air. Hermione ran to where it lay, and vanished it, so no one would ever come across it again.**

Ok, there it is, chappie four….please review! It'll make me a happy author, and a happy author is a….well, a happy author. : P


	5. Into the Past

**Chapter Five-Into the Past**

(A/N: When James and Lily become kids again it's because we went back to their past. The rest of the story is basically what life for them would be like without Voldemort, along with what Harry's life would be like. On with the story! ibelieveinsnorkacks)

**Harry stood, breathing hard and glaring at the spot where Voldemort had been standing seconds earlier. Suddenly a mass of bushy brown hair flew at him, knocking the air out of his chest in a bone breaking hug.**

"**Harry, you did it! You finally defeated Voldemort!" Hermione squealed, still crushing his ribs.**

"'**Er- mi-ne! Le' go!" Harry gasped, feeling his face turn a plum purple that was seen frequently on Uncle Vernon's face.**

"**Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Hermione said, finally letting go of her death hug. She stepped back from Harry as he took great gulps of air. Ron, who had just walked up to them, was about to say something, when the door to the cottage burst open and James came running out, wand raised. When he saw that the people that had created the commotion where three teenagers, he lowered it slightly, looking apprehensive. When his gaze fell on Harry, he performed the gasp that usually came when people saw him, but this one was for a completely different reason. Harry stood, frozen, gazing into the face that was a mirror image of his own. James opened his mouth to say something, when suddenly the door burst open again, this time Lily coming out with her wand. When she saw Harry and James staring at each other, her mouth dropped open. She started to walk hesitantly towards James, when suddenly the earth started to shake and rumble, throwing them to the ground. As they lay there, the rumbling increased, coming to such a deafening volume that they all covered their ears and screwed their eyes shut. **

**Suddenly, everything stopped. The world lay still in a deathly silence. Opening his eyes and raising his head, Harry saw that Hermione lay on his right, with Ron next to her. Lily and James where on his left, with James crawling shakily to Lily to make sure she was all right. Harry was just raising himself onto his hands, when streaks of light came down, showering the earth around them like embers from a firework. There was a whistling sound as each spark flew to the ground, where it burst into hundreds of little glowing lights, laying like tiny stars in the grass, each shining brightly like the famous twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes. It finally came to a point where the entire ground was covered in the twinkling lights, as well as the dazed onlookers. The lights grew to such a blinding brightness that the world went white. Harry closed his eyes for fear of going blind. He then felt a sensation that he had never felt before. He felt himself growing lighter, almost as if he were disappearing, body part by body part. The sensation continued to grow through out his body when suddenly…………**

(A/N: MUAHAHA! I SHALL HOLD YOU IN SUSPENSE! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Ok, that's enough of that……on with the story!)

………**James stepped out of the car, looking about. He and his parents had just arrived at Kings Cross, where he would board the Hogwarts Express for his seventh and last year at Hogwarts. Grinning, he looked around for his three best friends, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. The four friends were known mischief makers at Hogwarts. Having earned the name of the Marauders in their first year, they had probably gone down in Hogwarts history for breaking the most rules (although some rules had been broken that the teachers didn't know about). Spying Sirius, James' grin broadened and walked over to his best mate.**

"**Prongsies!" Sirius exclaimed as James walked over, grinning has he walked towards him. As they greeted each other, James couldn't help grinning to himself at his secret, which he would later reveal to his friends.**

"**_They probably won't even believe me!" _James thought smugly.**

**As the two best friends started catching up on each other's summer's, Remus and Peter walked over together.**

"**Hey Padfoot, hey Prongs!" Remus exclaimed.**

**After catching up for a few minutes, the train whistle started to whirl. Running to the entrance, the Marauders threw their stuff into the train, jumping on as they train started to move. Turning, James, Peter, and Remus waved goodbye to their parents as Sirius grabbed their stuff and started moving down the hall in search of a compartment.**

**_He must have gotten in a fight with his parents again. _James thought to himself. Sirius came from a line of pure-bloods, like James. Unlike James' relatives, however, Sirius' were very proud of that fact, and would waste no time in putting down muggle-borns, _mudbloods_, as they called them. Sirius being the first Gryffindor in the family after an ancestry of Slytherins, he had been shunned early in life, almost kicked out of his house. Not into their pure-blood mania, Sirius had contradicted his family many times, earning their spite and resentment. He was always being compared to his brother, Regulus, who could do no wrong in his parent's eyes, having become a respectable Slytherin. One summer, Sirius had decided he'd had enough after one particularly nasty fight, and had moved out, coming to leave with James and his parents, who had seen nothing wrong with this as Sirius already spent almost all of his summer vacation with them anyway. So Sirius had been taken in by the Potters, becoming even more so their son then before.**

**Once they had found a compartment, they loaded their luggage in the rack and sat down, making themselves comfortable for the long journey to Hogwarts.**

"**I wonder who's going to be head boy." Remus thought out loud.**

"**You didn't get it?" Sirius asked, looking puzzled. Remus, who was a prefect, had been the most obvious candidate for the position of head boy.**

"**No, and in a way, I'm kind of glad. It would have been a lot to take on along with my…erm, as James puts, "furry little problem"." Remus replied.**

**James grinned at Moony's use of his nickname for his friend's lycanthropy. He was also secretly relieved that Moony had not wanted to be Head Boy, as this had been the one draw back of James getting the position.**

**_Speaking of which, it's time for the meeting. I better get going._ James thought to himself.**

"**Well mates, I'll see you later." James called as he got up to leave. **

"**Where are you going?" Wormtail piped up.**

"**Heads meeting, where else?" James said, grinning. **

**His three mates stood in shocked silence as the compartment door clicked behind the retreating figure of James.**

How long will Hogwarts manage to exist under the rule of James Potter? How long will Lily be able to hold out against his charm? How long will Wormtail be able to go without wetting himself? Read on to find out!

(Oh, and just so you guys know, I really don't like him, (I still haven't forgiven him since I read PoA) so I might beat up on him in my ff….just cuz its fun ) (Wormtail I mean)


	6. The Heads

**Chapter Six-The Heads **

**James grinned as he headed towards the compartment where the prefects and Head Boy and Girl were supposed to meet. He had a definite suspect for who the head girl was going to be, and if he was right, then he felt he was sure to have a better chance this year, a better chance to get Lily Evans to finally share his feelings. Ever since the middle of second year, James Potter had attention for only one girl, Lily Evans. Sure, he had dated other girls, earning a title of "Heartbreaker" that was shared with Sirius, but he had never really become too involved with them, letting go after a week or two. He had kept this up, until his feelings for Lily had become known to him and his friends. After that, well, good luck to any girl that tried to catch his attention. **

**Most people thought that his attraction to Lily mainly came from a desire to have something he couldn't, a determination to gain something held back from him with a stubbornness that almost matched his own. It was surprising, really, how long Lily had been able to withstand James charm. Any girl in the school, even the Slytherin girls (though they would never openly admit it to anyone), thought that the Marauders, excluding Peter, were about the hottest thing on earth. **

**Sirius, with dark black hair that fell around his chin in a long, yet still masculine style, was the playboy of Hogwarts. He picked up girls for a couple days, discarding them again once he got bored. He was frequently found in broom closets, and sometimes the girls that were with him were ones he hadn't known for over an hour, sometimes she was such a stranger to him that he didn't even know her name. Although one of the top students with James, Lily, and Remus (though no one could figure out how James and Sirius did it, they were rarely ever caught less then three feet away from a book or magazine that didn't have something to do with Quidditch ), Sirius was always acting in a way that could only be defined as…Sirius-y.**

**James was also less studious then Remus, and although he wasn't a playboy like Sirius, he had gone through he's share of girlfriends as well. With messy black hair that was shorter then Remus', yet longer then Peter's, James could never get his hair to lie down flat on his head, although he didn't mind this. It had always been an annoyance with his mother, but James thought that it was part of who he was. You couldn't have James Potter without messy hair, it just wasn't possible. With hazel eyes and glasses, James would almost seem bookish upon first sight, but that would quickly change once he flashed his roguish smile. Probably the most mischievous of the four, James was always coming up with an new idea for a prank, aided by Remus, who would work out the kinks, and Sirius, who would come up with his own ideas on occasion, though they always carried out the pranks as a group. With a determination to be stubborn, James (along with Sirius) had to be a teacher's worst nightmare, although he had managed to charm them, even McGonagall. **

**Peter, however, was far from being described as handsome. Short and pudgy, Peter had frantic, bulging eyes that darted everywhere. With grayish hair that came down to his forehead, Peter had the shortest (and was the shortest) hair of the Marauders. Everyone from outside the close group had to stop and wonder as to why Peter was even a Marauder. He didn't exactly fill the requirements that went along with the hooligans. When compared to the other three, who were handsome, kind (except if you were a Slytherin), smart, mischievous, were for the most part social, and always stuck together, Peter seemed, and was, not high in the good looks department, with out very many IQ points, never really seemed comfortable pulling pranks, always seemed to be whining about getting caught or something else, Peter seemed to be the exact opposite. He was stand-offish, and had become increasingly so this past year, always sneaking off with no one else, not even his best mates, to Merlin knew where, never telling anyone where he had been and always making up excuses as to why he had left.**

**Remus had dirty-blonde, almost brown hair that fell into and covered his deep blue eyes. Most girls thought that this gave him a mysterious look, something that was helped by the simple fact that he was quite shy. Although not as bad as Sirius and James, Remus had also had a good number of girlfriends, never hanging onto them for very long, no matter how much he fancied her, for fear she would find out about his lycanthropy. His two biggest fears were that he would be rejected for something that he could not help, and that one day he would bite somebody, lost in the confines of the wolf-monster that took hold of his body once a month. He and Lily were close friends, both being prefects and both actually caring about how they did in school. Remus was constantly reminding James and Sirius about up-coming exams or homework assignments, though he did know when to let loose and just have fun.**

**James reflected on his obsession with the red-haired, fiery tempered, emerald-eyed girl that he was sure was in the compartment he was now rapidly approaching.**

**_Here we go._ He thought to himself as he started to pull the compartment door open. He stopped, took a deep breath to steady himself, preparing for the storm that was to come, for he was sure there would be one.**

**Bracing himself, James wrenched open the door. He had time only to take a deep breath and spy a flash of red, before a piercing scream shook the train.**

Duhn Duhn Duhn! REVIEW!


	7. Lily's Worst Nightmare

**Chapter Seven-Lily's Worst Nightmare**

**Lily turned her head as the door to the compartment.**

**_The Head Boy is probably going to be some Slytherin that doesn't give an owls-dropping about being on time._ Lily thought to herself. _Oh well, as long as it's not-_**

**Lily was interrupted mid-thought by the scream that came unknowingly from her mouth as she gazed upon the face of her partner for the next year.**

"**AHHHHHHHHH! No, no, this can't be, there must be some kind of mistake! Th-the owl brought the badge to the wrong person! Surely that's what must have happened! I mean, maybe it was meant for Remus, and since they're always together the poor owl got confused! Yes, that must have been what happened…." Lily rambled on to herself, un-aware that James had leaned against the wall. He had expected something like this to happen, but it still felt like his heart had dug a hole into the pit of his stomach and buried itself. **

"**Evans, you're starting to scare the new prefects." James said calmly, masking his disappointment.**

**Lily halted her ravings long enough to look at the prefects. James was right. She had been ranting without a thought to the petrified look of the younger students. They had wide-eyed, fearful expressions on their faces, and the one nearest to Lily was even edging slowly away from her, as if he expected her to attack should he make any sudden movements.**

**Taking deep breaths, Lily tried to calm herself down. She gave the prefects a weak, apologetic smile, then turned back to James.**

"**Potter, what are you doing here?" she asked, and although she knew the answer, she still dreaded hearing it come from Potter's mouth.**

"**Lily Evans can't use her top-of-the-class, Ms. Pick-me-Professor, smartest person-in-the-school brain to figure out why I might be entering the compartment where the Heads meet the prefects, wearing a Head Boy badge?" James pretended to swoon onto a bench next to a group of giggling girls that looked as if they would have liked nothing more then to reach out and rumple his hair.**

"**Oh no, I just wouldn't have put it past you to have kidnapped the _real _Head Boy and then stuff him into a broom closet somewhere. Or maybe you just lost your way in your search for a mirror; I wouldn't put that past your oversized-egotistical lump of a head." Lily replied with a would-be sweet voice.**

"**Oh, the pain of Evans' hurtful comebacks!" James said sarcastically.**

**Lily rolled her eyes and turned back to the prefects.**

"**Ok, now that my…er…'partner'" Lily shuddered slightly as she said this. "..has finally decided to grace us with his presence…" James winked at the group of girls that had been giggling earlier, sending them into another round of hysterics "we should start going over everything you'll be doing for the upcoming year."**

**For the next half-hour James and Lily went over jobs and rules for the prefects. James was as helpful as Lily, which surprised her since James had never been a prefect.**

**Once the meeting was over, Lily and James were the last ones in the compartment. Standing aside and holding the door open, James let Lily go first. She was slightly suspicious, but went anyway. James, however, messed up when he tried putting her hand on her back to usher her out the door.**

"**James Potter what do you think you are doing!" Lily whirled around and yelled as she slapped him soundly across the face. He had no idea what disturbed her so, it's not like he had tried to touch her bum or anything.**

"**I think that I am holding a door open for you Evans, thanks for the appreciation."**

"**I don't care what it is you are or think you are doing, NEVER, and I mean NEVER touch me again!" Lily stormed, furious.**

"**Fine, then next time remind me to leave you to open the door. I supposed it was wrong of me to think that maybe I should actually follow your advice and try to be more of s gentleman!" James yelled, just as furious as she was.**

**Turning, he stalked off while Lily stood there fuming. As soon as he was out of sight she stomped off after him.**

Sorry this one was so short….it seems a lot longer when its on Microsoft Word….even on there it was small tho…sorry  plz don't hate me or stop reading the story! Just review and give me some constructive criticism instead! (or you could review and say nice things! Nice things are good! They are my friend! Ok, im starting to scare myself….i really need to stop doing that.)


	8. Home Again

**Chapter Eight-Home Again**

**Lily stormed back to her compartment where her friends were waiting for her.**

**How dare he? That inconsiderate, egotistical prick! Had he actually thought that he could put his filthy hands on her and get away with it? She shuddered at the thought.**

**She suddenly stopped. He had tried touching her before, and she had blown up at him, even though it wasn't in a perverted way, but it had never annoyed her as much as it had this time.**

**_It must have just been because I was already mad since he made Head Boy when I don't really believe he should have _Lily reasoned with herself, determinedly ignoring the fluttering feeling that had started when James had touched her back. It was back now, as she recalled the feeling his hand's pressure softly urging her out the door.**

**_What am I thinking? It was just bullying, arrogant, annoying, egotistical, loud-mouthed, bragging, tall, smart, handsome, -NO! I didn't mean that! I didn't just think that! Potter is just a great, big, bullying prick! _Lily thought to herself. But the more she though about it, the more she was surprised to find that she was wrong. **

**Ever since that scene by the lake in fifth year, James had started cursing fewer amounts of people. Well, at least as few as could be expected from a Marauder. He had even started deflating his ego and by the end of last term, it had become almost non-existent. And she couldn't deny that he was handsome, not matter how hard she tried.**

"**Maybe he isn't so bad after all." Lily thought.**

**Looking up, she realized she was back at her compartment. Sliding the door open, Lily smiled and walked in.**

"**Hey guys, I'm back!" Lily said to her group of friends. There was Alex, who had hazel eyes and dirty blonde hair. She was muggle born, like Lily. Tamara (or Tammy) had brown hair and brown eyes. Up until third year, her hair had hung down to her waist. She and Alex were quiet and smart, but would speak their minds forcefully should the need arise. Sitting between them was Anna, who was the shortest with strawberry blonde hair and dark blue eyes. All three of them were in Gryffindor with Lily. **

"**Hey Lily! How was it?" Alex asked cheerfully.**

"**Ok, but you'll never guess who made Head Boy!" Lily exclaimed.**

**Her four friends looked uneasily at each other.**

"**Er…actually Lily, we could." Alex finally said. Lily looked at them in curious shock. **

"**You knew?" Lily asked, looking hurt.**

"**Well, we didn't know until after you had left to go to the meeting." Tammy said quickly and apologetically. Actually, there was more to the story that they weren't telling. They looked at each other, each with a small smile on their faces as Lily rummaged through her bag.**

**Flash Back **

**Alex, Tammy, Kyree, and Anna were talking happily. Lily had left for the Head/Prefect meeting about ten minutes ago.**

"**Yeah, I can't wait till-"the door of the compartment came crashing open, cutting Anna off in the middle of her sentence.**

**Two boys came tumbling into the compartment. Remus and Sirius straightened up, panting and out of breath.**

"**What are you guys doing here?" Tammy asked.**

**Remus held up a hand as he regained his breath. After a few moments he straightened up.**

"**You'll never guess where James had to go!" he said excitedly. The girls looked at each other and shrugged.**

"**The Head's meeting."**

**Remus watched as his words sunk in.**

"**Oh my God! That means they're going to have to spend practically the whole year together! They'll have to do patrols, prefect meetings, and plan events! Oh this is going to be wicked!" Alex said, squealing with delight.**

"**But we're also going to have to put our plans into action sooner so they don't kill each other before the end of the week." Remus said, smiling.**

**Over the summer, the three girls and Sirius and Remus had agreed on something. **

**They had to get James and Lily together. They could all tell Lily liked James, she was just being stubborn. And if you didn't know that James was fond of Lily, well then there was just something wrong with you.**

**So, during the holiday break, the group had formed the "James' Lily" plan. So far, they had one definite plan. To get James and Lily together, no matter what. **

**End Flashback**

**Ducking their heads to stifle their giggles, the girls trying to look as innocent as possible.**

**Once Lily had looked back up, she was slightly suspicious, but decided she would find out sooner or later.**

**_The always seem to be plotting against me._ Lily though slightly amused. It was true, she always happened to fall victim to a plot, though she always enjoyed it.**

"**So, how were things while I was gone?" Lily asked. The other girls looked quickly at each other, answering with short "Fine"'s. **

**In truth, everything had gone fine. They had come up with a plan to set "James' Lily" into motion.**

**Then, seeing the first flow of prefects, Sirius and Remus had hurried back to their own compartment, for fear of Peter coming out of the compartment to see if they were back from the "bathroom"(they had decided not to include Peter in their plans, for fear of being found out, as Peter was not the best person at keeping secrets), or incase James made it back before they did.**

**So the two Marauders had dashed off, leaving the girls to come up with the final details of "Stage One", as Sirius had called it.**

**The six friends talked for awhile, stopping only when the food trolley arrived.**

**Once they had stocked themselves up on sweets ("Chocolate!"), the girls resumed talking.**

**Looking out the window, Tammy noticed tall turrets starting to pierce the inky night sky.**

"**We better put our robes on." She said, pointing to the massive towers reaching for the stars in the distance.**

**Lily turned to the luggage rack and handed Anna, Tammy, and Alex their trunks, then turned to her own and pulled out her school robes, which were lying in a neat stack on the top of her things. Quickly pulling them on, Lily turned to face Anna, who was already done. They waited a couple minutes, looking out the window at the nearing castle.**

**Finally, the train screeched to a halt. The girls grabbed their trunks and slid the door open, stepping into the corridor where they were shuffled forward by the torrent of bodies.**

**Reaching the door, they one by one stepped out into the cool, refreshing night air.**

**Lily sighed, looking out over the vast lake to the dark, waiting castle. She was home. **

Yeah, yeah, I know, sappy ending (and remarkably like my _Titanic_ one-shot) review plz!


	9. Truce?

**Chapter Nine-Truce?**

_I found a reason to show,_

_A side of me you didn't know,_

_I found a reason for me,_

_To change who I used to be_

_A reason to start over new,_

_And the reason is you._

HoobastankThe Reason

**James sat in a horseless carriage, waiting for it to set off for the castle. There were a couple students still trying to find one with enough room for them, but it was to dark for him to try to make out who they were. **

**James turned back to his empty carriage. He and the other Marauders hadn't been able to find a carriage to fit all of them, so James had volunteered to find a new one and let the others stay there. He had come across this last empty one, and was about to go back for his friends, when he decided it would be nice to sit by himself for a little while so he could think. **

**He was, of course, thinking about Lily. He had decided over the summer that this was the year he would make her fall for him (unknown to him, so had the other Marauders) and he had become even more sure of this during and after the prefect meeting. He had noticed that during the meeting, when ever James would offer information that Lily had forgotten or had given some advice on how to do one of their duties, or had even answered simple questions, Lily had looked at him, her emotions had ranged from surprised, curious, and the one that had pleased him the most, adoration. Then, after the meeting, when he had tried to help her, she had **_**pretended**_** to be mad at him. He could tell that as much as she believed she was mad at him, she wasn't. The usual furious fire that gleamed in her eyes when she was dealing with him wasn't there. Her eyes had betrayed her, revealed her true feelings for him. Something had been there tonight, hidden away in those eyes that entranced him so. Tonight there had been something there, something he had never seen in those deep, clear, emerald pools. The only time he had seen that look in someone's eyes was when he was looking into Lily's and saw his own brown ones reflecting back at him. He knew exactly what that look meant. **_**Yup, this year's the year.**_

**Lily looked around. Since they had not been able to find an empty carriage, she and her friends had decided to split up. After a few minutes of searching the inky night air around her, she found that all the carriages except one had already started for the castle. Glad that there was still an empty one, Lily started towards it.**

**James looked out the carriage window, trying to figure out why he hadn't started to move yet. He peered through the darkness, trying to see if there was anyone left that needed a carriage to ride in. Finally, he saw a dark figure walking towards him. Unfortunately, he couldn't figure out who it was, as the darkness that surrounded him was as black as charcoal. He hoped that who ever it was, it wasn't a Slytherin.**

**Lily walked faster as a slight drizzle started to rain down upon her. When she reached the carriage, she hesitated to open the door, silently wishing that whoever was in there wasn't a Slytherin, for she could only make out a dark shape through the carriage window's curtains. Holding onto a deep breath, Lily pulled open the door and came face to face with…James. Of all the people she had expected, it certainly wasn't him. She had thought that he would have been in a carriage with the other Marauders, one of the ones already heading to the castle. She stood, staring awkwardly at him for a moment as he stared back.**

_**Bloody hell! He **_**is**_** hot!**_** Lily thought to herself.**

**Lily blinked rapidly as she tried to regain her composure.**

"**Erm, do you mind if I sit with you?" she asked unsurely.**

"**Oh, ah sure, go ahead!" James replied startledly, breaking their eye contact. **

**Lily climbed into the seat across from him, setting her luggage in the rack. They sat in awkward silence as their carriage finally lurched into motion.**

**Mere minutes passed by, but they seemed like long, drawn out hours.**

**James broke his gaze from the rain splattered window long enough to chance a glance at Lily. Her fiery red hair was cascading softly down her back in natural waves. It reached almost to her waist, curling gently at the end. It was gleaming, even in the poor light given by the swinging lanterns on the outside of the carriage. Her eyes, emerald green pools of emotion, were fixed on the rain drenching the world outside. Her long, dark lashes blinked slowly as she sighed contently. James jumped as she spoke, breaking the dark silence.**

"**I love rain." She said, at last turning to face James.**

"**Why? It makes everything damp and wet." James replied.**

"**Well yes it does, but I just love the way it sounds, the way it feels when it falls on me, it calms me down…I don't know, I guess I like it because I love swimming and everything that gets me wet."**

"**Well, maybe I should just call you Water Lily from now on then." Jams joked.**

**Lily laughed softly, the nodded. "I guess you could."**

**They sank back into silence, though this one wasn't as awkward as the last. James lapsed into thought. There was a question burning in his mind, flitting through all his thoughts. His gazed flickered quickly to Lily, then back out the window when he saw that she was gazing thoughtfully at him.**

**Minutes passed by once again. James finally turned back to her, unable to suppress his curiosity any longer, unable to hold his question in another moment.**

"**Lily, can I ask you something?" James ventured quietly.**

**Lily looked a little apprehensive. **

"**It's not what you think it's going to be!" James said quickly, seeing the look on her face.**

"**Ok…" Lily looked a little hesitant and James knew why. Almost ninety-nine percent of the time he asked her something he was asking her out.**

"**Lily, why do you hate me so much?" James asked softly, his eyes burning into hers.**

**Lily looked a little startled, but not completely. She had been expecting this question sooner or later. She had even had the answer ready. But now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure if it was an honest one. She had included all her real reasons, honest reasons. **_**Why did she hate James?**_** She used to know exactly why, but all her reasons had disintegrated in front of her. **

"**Because you always used to hex and jinx people for no reason, and you always used to brag and boast so much, bullying the younger students around." Lily said, looking at James with pain in her eyes. James looked right back, his gaze never wavering. He spoke softly as he answered her.**

"'**Used to'. You said those words a lot Lily. I've changed."**

**Emerald eyes melted in mocha ones as their gazed deepened.**

"**I know."**

"**Ok, well, phase two has begun. Lily and James got stuck in the same carriage and we managed to spike Lily's pumpkin pasty with the calming potion. How about you guys?" Tammy asked, looking around the carriage. Remus, Sirius, Peter, Tammy, Anna, and Alex had managed to stuff themselves into a carriage. Given the fact that the carriage could only fit four, and there were in fact five of them, things were a bit scrunched. Tammy and Sirius were on one bench, with Remus in between them. Anna and Alex sat on the other bench. Peter lay on the floor, snoring.**

"**I wonder if the carriage ride actually **_**will**_** give them time to try talking to each other and become friends." Alex said thoughtfully. **

"**Yeah, what if when we get to Hogwarts they're having another one of their monster fights?" Anna asked, looking suddenly a little fearful.**

"**Don't worry, we got rid of that problem when we spiked Lily's pasty, remember?" asked Remus.**

"**Yeah, I guess so." Tammy said, still looking worried.**

**All in all, Remus and Sirius certainly looked more confident in their plan than the girls did as their carriage bounced and bumped on the rocky road. **

**James and Lily held their gaze, each trying to read the other's thoughts. After a few moments of silence, Lily smiled hesitantly.**

"**Well, I guess I don't have any reason to hate you now." She said, breaking the silence.**

**James grinned broadly.**

"**Truce?" Lily asked, offering a slightly trembling hand.**

"**Truce."**

**Lily lay staring up at the silk curtains of her four-poster bed. Dinner had been a strange affair. The Marauders, Lily, and all Lily's friends had all eaten together, something that never happened without a following argument between Lily and James. That evening however, was an exception. Things had gone extremely smoothly. Everyone had been talking, laughing, joking around, and just generally goofing off. There had even been a little flirting going on.**

_**This year is definitely going to be extremely……weird. Weird, but better.**_** Lily thought, drifting lightly into sleep.**

Ok, Lily and James declared truce, but that does not mean that she likes him!!!! Or does she? REVIEW!


	10. A Cry in the Night

**Chapter Ten-A Cry in the Night**

_**So what if you can see**_

_**The darker side of me**_

_**No one will ever change **_

_**This animal I have become**_

_**Animal I Have Become, **_**3 Days Grace**

**Remus lay on the ripped bed, watching the clouds curling slowly across the sky. Those clouds were his savior, his protection. He new they wouldn't be there for long, but he savored his time. For when the clouds had departed, his worst fear would be unmasked. Then the pain would come. Pain, shooting through his limbs, his spine, piercing through his head. Thousands of red hot needles, stabbing into his body, over and over again, until it would suddenly stop. But, as soon as the pain stopped, the madness began. Rage, furious rage, coursing through his veins, through his own blood. Unspeakable anger shrouding his vision, clouding his judgment. Ferocity spilling into his mind, his thoughts. Alien instincts coursing through his brain, spilling into his conscience. **

_**At least it only comes once a month.**_** Remus thought meekly. **

**Yes, once a month the unfortunate boy had to go through torture unlike any other. Once every month, with the rise of the full moon. Lycanthropy some called it. Some referred to it as a disease. James thought of it as a "furry little problem". Remus thought of it as a curse.**

**His transformations had become slightly less painful in fifth year, however. James, Sirius, and Peter had become unregistered animagi. Every month they would wait for Remus to be taken to the Shrieking Shack, a crooked house that was believed to house violent and evil spirits. In reality, it was a place where Remus could transform without being a threat to anyone. After he was escorted into a tunnel under the Whomping Willow, and extremely violent tree that hit anything that came within ten feet of it, that led to the Shack, his fellow Marauders would sneak down to join him, Peter as a rat, James as a stag, and Sirius as a giant dog. Peter, being the smallest, would press the knot on the tree trunk that froze the giant tree, therefore granting passage to James and Sirius. The Marauders would wait in the shack until the moon was out and Remus had transformed. Since animals are not infected by the bite of a werewolf, the three animagi were safe. The four animals would wonder around school grounds and the Forbidden Forest, James and Sirius keeping Remus in check. Unfortunately, the Marauders had landed themselves in detention. For obvious reasons, Remus had been excused, but he would have to wait three hours into his transformation for company.**

**Now three hours might not seem too long to some people, but to werewolves, especially lone werewolves, three hours can seem a lifetime. With no one there, Remus would be forced to bit and wound himself, as he used to before fifth year.**

**Remus climbed off the bed trembling. The last of the clouds had begun to disappear. Remus closed his eyes, trying to calm himself.**

**Suddenly, and without warning, the pain began. **

**Red hot fire came tearing into his shaking limbs, piercing through his muscles as they began to distort, started to form the shape of a wolf. His ears ached and throbbed as they elongated, his skull felt like it was cracked open as it reformed into that of a wolf. His eyes contracted and expanded as his vision became keener. His nose and mouth stretched tautly, painfully, as they formed a snout. His gums ached with a dull but intense pain as his teeth became sharper, longer, to form fangs. Remus fell onto his hands and knees as a horrible, sharp pain began along the bottom of his spine, the beginnings of his tail. Sharp claws formed along the tips of his fingers, piercing his skin. His hands turned to powerful paws, his legs became more slender, but muscular. Then, the beginning of the transformation was over. **

**Remus lay panting, waiting for the next stage, for he lay collapsed on the shredded rug, a wolf, yet a naked one. Not a single hair could be found on his body, not even on his tail, not on his back, not on his head. He didn't even have a single whisker. Then, as suddenly as the first pain had begun, so did his one.**

**There came the sudden sensation of thousands of red hot needles piercing his skin, twisting and turning in the most agonizing way possible. Remus gritted his newly formed teeth as the pain moved all over his body, tufts of gray fur growing in its wake. Finally, after an excruciating ten minutes, it was over. Remus the werewolf stood upon the moth-eaten rug, gasping and panting for breath. The pain was over, but the madness had not yet begun.**

**Suddenly he could feel it, an alien presence in his mind that was always secluded from his thoughts until the full moon. It began to creep in now, drowning out his brain, his conscience, his ability to think. Slowly, no matter how hard he struggled, Remus turned into a full-fledged monster. Before he could totally sink into the ferocity of the wolf, his thoughts returned to his friends. His last sensible thought was: **

_**Hurry**_

**Then he was gone; a wolf stood snarling, ready to bite, to fight, but with no one there but himself.**

**A terrible, blood-curdling cry pierced the night.**

**James looked up, his face turning grim as he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. He turned to Sirius, who was working right beside him, thinking the same thing as James.**

_**He's changed.**_

**The wolf ran through the house, biting anything that got in his way. He threw chairs and tables against walls, overturned desks and beds, sending them crashing to the floor. He yelped as he inflected wound upon wound to himself. He needed warm flesh to bite into, he needed to taste blood.**

**He was so over come by his blood lust that he abandoned the furniture, fixing all his attention on himself.**

**Shrieks pierced the night air.**

**Sirius and James turned the corner from McGonagall's office and their walk turned into a run. Peter huffed along behind them, trying to keep up. They raced down the hallways as yelps and howls shattered the air outside the Entrance Hall. They burst through the doors, now transforming as they went. **

**Since animagi willingly transform into animals, they do not feel the pain that werewolves do, only a slight tingle as their bodies transfigure.**

**In place of three teenage boys, there were now two magnificent animals racing down the slightly damp lawns of the grounds. Peter was still transforming, being the slowest of the three. **

**The stag and the dog raced through the grass and reached the Whomping Willow. They looked behind them impatiently, trying to see where Peter was. Suddenly, a rat tore through the grass and rushed for the tree. It squeaked, frightened, as it dodged the swinging branches. It reached the base of the tree and lifted its tail to press a knot on the trunk.**

**The dog and the stag ran forward, joining the rat at the beginning of the tunnel, a huge hole in the tree trunk. **

**They rushed through the tunnel, stumbling over roots as they went. The stag had to lower his head so his antlers wouldn't scrape along the roof. **

**They finally reached the end of the tunnel, scrambling out so they could stop their friend from inflicting further injuries upon himself.**

**They heard terrible cries, moans, and howls coming form the other side of the house, so they rushed through the rooms, until finally they came into a bedroom that had been utterly destroyed. A silver-gray wolf stood, snarling at them amidst the wreckage. The Peter scampered up James' foreleg and onto his back where he perched between his ears, his tail wrapped firmly around James' antlers. James and Sirius glanced at each other with concern when they noticed the fresh blood spattered around the room and dripping from Remus; dripping from his torn ears, his legs, and his underbelly.**

**They walked carefully over, trying to get Remus to recognize him, knowing that beneath the insatiable blood-lust, their friend was trying to regain his control. The saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes and he slowly stopped snarling. James and Sirius walked back to the doorway, waiting for the wolf to join them.**

**The moon shone bright upon the grounds as the four animals stalked the night, getting into whatever mischief lay around them.**

**Remus relaxed slightly as part of his wolfish instincts backed off. He knew that should he get out of hand, the stag and dog positioned beside him would be able to keep him in control. He was actually able to enjoy himself as a wolf now that he had some of his self control back. The three friends stopped walking, and they all looked at each other, smiling in animal like ways. One look was all it took. **

**The three bounded towards the Forbidden Forest, the rat trembling in slight fear upon the stags head as the trees loomed up to meet them.**

**Lily rubbed her hand on the window pane, trying to clear it of the fog that was obscuring her view. She sat carefully down on the window pane, covering her candle with her hand so the light wouldn't disturb her dorm mates. She peered into the dark night while rubbing her eyes with her free hand. Lily had been woken by a terrible cry that had shattered the peaceful calm of her dreams. As she gazed into the night, she thought she saw to figures racing across the night with a third stumbling behind them. Lily's nose wrinkled with curiosity has she followed their rapid trek through the grass. Her mouth dropped open slightly as she realized they were headed to the Whomping Willow. She watched with even more shock as the third figure seemed to shrivel up and shrink into the ground. Lily watched as the grass around where the person had been seemed to move, jumping in front of the still running figures and heading straight towards the violent tree. She rubbed her eyes vigorously with both hands this time. Unfortunately, doing so cause her to miss the two sprinting figures run into the light of her window, therefore missing the sight of two black-haired boys and the glint of something that could only be glasses. Indeed, Lily rubbed her eyes for so long that by the time she looked back out onto the sloping lawns, there wasn't a being in sight, human or otherwise.**

**Hours later, had anyone happened to look out their window, like the now baffled Lily, they would have seen for animals frolicking by the lake in the light of the sinking moon. **

**There was a huge black dog that was rolling around in the grass on his back, tongue lolling out of his mouth. In the lake, a rat was dog-paddling around in the shallows near shore, occasionally ducking its head under water, only to resurface a few seconds later and shake the droplets off its ears. There was also a stag, which was just swimming over from the deeper water. When he reached the shore, he shook his entire body, sending water spraying water onto the dog, who bounded up at once and began to play-wrestle with him. Laying on one of the branches of the willow tree that was giving them shelter was a wolf. The wolf's golden eyes were closed contentedly, his tail flicking back and forth. He opened one tawny eye lazily at the antics of his larger companions, then yawned and leaped gracefully down to join them.**

**Hours passed like this with the Marauders jumping and playing, until dawn started to show its rosy fingers on the earth. Looking up, the animals stopped what they were doing and started across the grounds so that they would reach the Shrieking Shack before the sun could transform Remus back to normal for the school to see. **

**They had barely made into the shack when the sun made its appearance over the horizon. The wolf walked slowly over to the window so that the golden light fell upon his fur.**

**Remus felt the presence of the wolf recede, leaving him in full control of himself once again.**

Ok, is it just me or does lycanthropy remind anyone else of PMS??? Sorry, had to ask…..anywayz, if you liked it, review! If you didn't, review anywayz!!!

Thanks to zodiac1805, Nocturnal007, Drake0x, Grace, and flower123, for being the first ones to review, and a special thanks to Tammy, for telling me what a fanfic is, and getting me started on writing them, to Alex (Amortentiaxo) for helping me along the way and posting my Titanic one-shot (Going Home) for me and for pointing out any time-line errors I may have made, and to Fluffysmarts for reviewing several times and giving me several tips and inspirations  Thanks a lot guys!!!


	11. Snow Wars

**Chapter Eleven- Snow War**

**Two months had passed since the first full-moon of the term, and the students of Hogwarts that were third year and up were enjoying themselves at the nearby wizard town, Hogsmeade. Among the strolling students were the Marauders, accompanied by Lily and Alex. The others had gone of on their own, so as to make the trip seem more (but not obviously so) intimate. They had decided that one person should stay with Lily to make sure she didn't mess anything up in their plans. Before heading down to breakfast that morning, Sirius and Remus had carefully planted the idea to buy Lily a present to say sorry for the things he had done in the past. Peter had also helped with an unknowing stroke of brilliance, suggesting that James should get her a pet, something cute, fluffy, and loveable. So the Marauders had pooled their money, together with contributions from Lily's friends. All together they had come up with enough money to buy a pet and the supplies it would need from the pet emporium in Hogsmeade. To fool-proof this plan, the week before the trip Lily and her friends had "somehow" gotten onto the subject of gifts. Anna had carefully mentioned the topic of pets given to loved-ones as gifts. When they had concluded that Lily would indeed be grateful if she was given a pet and that she would, in fact, think it would be extremely sweet of whoever had given it to her, they had gone to the headmaster to as permission to bring a pet other than an owl (Lily already had an one, a beautiful barn owl named Poppy for her coloring), toad (she actually thought toads extremely disgusting), or a cat, should the need arise.**

**So, since she and her friends had been getting along with the Marauders extremely well lately, they had asked them to go to Hogsmeade with them, knowing that only Lily and Alex would accept.**

**So the five friends had set off for the cozy little village together (Peter had unfortunately fallen ill during breakfast **(A/N: mwhahaha!)**) all bundled up in their scarves and cloaks. They mad their own trail through the ever piling snow, make trudging their way down to the little village.**

**Hogsmeade looked almost like something out of a fairy tail book, the houses and stores trimmed with glistening snow, lights twinkling merrily through frosty windows. There was already a small crowd walling through the icy streets, stopping every once in-a-while to take refuge in the toasty shops, or to simply gave at products show-cased in the snow-encrusted glass of the windows.**

**Remus looked over at James as they trekked through the snow. He had an evil look on his face that Remus didn't like one bit. His suspicions were aroused when James nudged Sirius at showed him something he was hiding in his hands as they reached the halfway point between the sleepy Hogmseade and Hogwarts. A few seconds later, Remus heard a dull thump and a shriek come from his left. He looked up from the ground to Alex, who had been walking besides him on his left, to find her covered in snow. He looked forward and barely ducked in time, almost getting hit by a snowball himself. Looking up again, he saw James and Sirius laughing evilly. Their laughter stopped suddenly however, when each was hit by well-aimed snowballs from Remus and Alex. They looked at each other in surprise, and then quickly formed new ammunition so they could fight back. One snow ball however, missed its target and hit Lily, who had been laughing of to the side, trying to remain unnoticed. Her laughter stopped as she stood gaping in shock at her four laughing friends. Soon there was a full-blown snow ball fight as they all tried to dodge each others snowballs. **

**It soon became a fully-fledged war, with the boys against the girls, except Remus pityingly took Lily and Alex's side, knowing what James and Sirius could do in snowball fights, having been up against them before. **

**A half-hour later, the five friends lay in the snow, exhausted but happy.**

"**You prats, I can't believe you did that!" Lily said, trying to hold back her laughter as she turned to face James and Sirius.**

"**We're Marauders, what do you expect?" Sirius asked.**

"**Fair point."**

"**It's not like you didn't fight back!" James said, poking Lily on her stomach.**

**Giggling, Lily pushed his finger away**

"**But still! That was really uncalled for!" Alex exclaimed, joining the conversation with fake accusation.**

"**Humph. I can see where we're not wanted!" Sirius said.**

**Both he and James jumped up, pretending to leave in a huff. Remus rolled his eyes at them.**

"**Well at least we know we'll never be bored around them." He said.**

"**That's true. Well we better start heading down, I'm freezing!" Alex said, her teeth chattering.**

**So the three hurried to catch up with James and Sirius, pushing each other into the snow banks playfully along the way.**

A/N: sorry this ones kinda short, I just thought it would make a good ending there. They'll still be in Hogsmeade in the next chapter though, so I'm not going to skip when they get Lily's pet!  ibelieveinsnorkacks

And thanks to Daniela a.k.a LupinandHarry and Fluffysmarts for reviewing the last chapter so quickly!


	12. The Cabbit

**Chapter Twelve-The Cabbit**

A/N: A cabbit is something I invented myself, or at east I think I did, so if there has been a creature in fantasy called a cabbit, but it's nothing like the way I described it, oops, sorry, I didn't know. Anyways, on with the story!  ibelieveinsnorkacks

**After a couple of hours the five friends trooped towards The Three Broomsticks before heading to their last shopping stop.**

**They hurried into the warm pub, glad for the shelter from the bone-chilling wind. They hurried over to a table large enough to fit them and their many parcels.**

"**Shall I go get the butterbeers then?" Remus asked before hurrying off to the bar.**

**Conveniently enough, once everyone had found their seats and gotten their drinks Lily and James were sitting next to each other on one side of the booth with Sirius, Remus, and Alex on the other side, in that order.**

**They all sat, drinking the warm butterbeers, thinking. After a while, however, Sirius could no longer stand the silence.**

"**Well, we are a noisy lot aren't we?" he said sarcastically.**

**The others grinned sheepishly at him as he broke their train of thought.**

"**So are we going to head back to school when we're done? We only have a little bit of time left." asked Lily.**

"**No, we have one more stop before we leave." James answered, a mischievous glint in his eyes.**

"**We do? But we've already gone to every shop in Hogsmeade!"**

"**Not all of them, we didn't go to that brick one at the end of the street." Alex pointed out.**

"**Or the one across the street from us." Remus added.**

"**Yeah, but you guys wouldn't let us go into that one" here she pointed to the one Remus had said "because you think a powder puff exploded in there and that it's too girly for the 'Macho Marauders'! And we didn't go into the other one because you guys" here she looked at Sirius and James "said that it would be a waste of time since no one needed any pet food or anything!" exclaimed Lily.**

"**Yes well we've changed our minds. We need to go to the owl emporium." Sirius said defiantly. Lily just rolled her eyes.**

**So they finished their drinks and bundled up again and started for the pet store.**

**When they opened the door the smell of various animals greeted them (**a/n: ewww…**) along with hoots, grunts, squeaks, squeals, gurgles, and honks. The store was dimly lighted for the sake of the owls lined up on the top row of spacious cages. The cages underneath them held all sorts of animals, like multi-colored bats with especially fluffy fur; tadpoles with shimmery tales that were changing into miniature monkeys with gills (**a/n: hehe, sea monkeys…yeah, lame, I know**) instead of frogs; small blue, purple, and green birds with silver beaks that were emitting notes like those of flutes, clarinets, and French horns (depending on their color); lizards that were pure white lay basking in the heat of their incubators while singing opera, while custard colored furballs where humming happily along from the cage next to them; fish were emitting bubbles that formed into words (sometimes the sayings were rather crude) from tanks in the back of the shop. There were dozens of others, some cute while others slightly disturbing, such as the spiders that were the size of baseballs, but with fangs like a vampire instead of pincers.**

"**Lily, if you had to pick one animal to buy, what would it be?" James asked, turning to face her.**

**She looked back at him curiously.**

"**Why?"**

"**I dunno, I'm just curious I guess." James answered, the picture of innocence.**

**Lily still looked slightly suspicious, but started wondering around the store, looking into the cages at their occupants. She finally stopped at one.**

"**Awww! Look at these little guys! They're so cute!" she exclaimed, sticking her finger in the cage to try to coax one of the creatures over to her.**

**The others walked over. She had stopped in front of a cage labeled as follows:**

_**Cabbits**_

"_**Cabbits are a mix between a rabbit and a cat. Cabbits are bred for the sole purpose to become family pets. Although rabbits and cats alone are quite un-magical (unless they happen to be a familiar), combined they are the opposite. Cabbits are included in the Magical Creatures category and are among the few that can be tamed. With the ears, nose, eyes (though larger), and hind-legs of a rabbit, they have the mouth, front legs, and body (though slightly less long and a little rabbit like) of a cat. Cabbit's tails are a mix between the two. They are extremely fluffy and twitchy, like a rabbits, but slightly elongated, like a cats. Cabbits vary in colors. They can be black, gray, calico, spotted, creamy-colored, orange, white, or any other color that you might find a rabbit or cat to be and may grow to be the size of a dwarf rabbit. They enjoy eating almost everything a cat and rabbit like, though it mainly depends on your Cabbits personal taste. For a treat you may give them carrots and cream, served like peaches in cream."**_

**Lily squealed with delight as one of the Cabbits hopped up to the cage door and allowed her to stroke it as it purred happily. There was a cream colored one, a calico, and a black one with white spots. This was the cabbit that seemed to have befriended Lily.**

**The store clerk walked over from where he had been working with his assistant, looking happy that Lily had taken an interest in the Cabbits.**

"**Ahhh, those little guys just came in yesterday. Since we were closed that day no one has had a chance to buy them yet until today. There were three or four others, but we sold them almost as soon as we opened today! These three are still for sale though. They're extremely sweet and docile. They make great pets and are wonderful with people of all ages, making wonderful pets." The clerk said, switching into salesman mode. "Would you like to hole one?"**

**Lily quickly agreed and asked to hold the spotted one, as the others were huddled in the back of the cage, looking positively frightened about all the attention they were receiving. Indeed, they seemed extremely happy when the clerk led the five friends to a little playpen.**

**As soon as the clerk had let Lily into the pen, closed the door behind her, then lowered the baby cabbit down onto the floor it began to jump around Lily on its rabbit like hind-legs. It jumped on her lap and tried to jump up and nuzzle her face, but being so small it was nowhere near close.**

"**He's so adorable!" exclaimed Lily, cuddling with it.**

"**Actually, this one's a she. She can become extremely feisty when she doesn't get her food, and I've had enough experience with this after only a day!" the clerk said.**

"**Remind you of anyone?" Remus whispered to Alex, jerking his thumb at Sirius and James. Alex covered her mouth to stifle her giggles. They turned back to Lily and the cabbit to find them playing again. **

**Indeed, Lily was so caught up with her new found friend that she didn't notice James slip quietly off. At a look from him, Sirius, Alex, and Remus crowded around Lily to block her view as James walked quickly over to the animal supplies.**

**About five minutes later, James joined them with several new parcels that looked nothing like the many Zonko's packages that were already in his hands. He quickly shrunk the supplies and stuck them inside his pocket.**

"**Ok, are we ready to go?" he asked, the mocha glint back in his eyes. **

"**Hold on one second James." Lily quickly and carefully placed the cabbit in Alex's arms, where it looked up at her with big, beautiful blue eyes that almost looked anime-ish. **

"**Excuse me sir, but how much is she?" Lily asked the clerk, who was back at the cash register? She hoped to Merlin that she still had enough of her savings left.**

**The clerk looked up from sorting the Knuts, galleons, and sickles in his hands.**

"**I'm sorry, but she was just sold." The clerk said as Lily's heart sank**

"**Oh. Thank you anyway sir," she replied, looking crestfallen.**

**The clerk however, had been giving instructions. Looking quickly over the young girls shoulder he insisted that he show her some of the other animals.**

**After a brief resistance, Lily agreed half-heartedly, sure she wasn't going to find something that she liked half as much as the cabbit.**

**The clerk brought her over to the musical birds that were now playing a trio that sounded like Symphony Number Nine. He kept her blind from the activity at the cash register, where Alex, Sirius, and Remus were trying to keep the cabbit from breaking free and rushing to Lily, while the clerk's helper hurriedly tried to get a carrying cage ready for the cold-trip back to Hogwarts.**

**They finished with perfect timing, for the clerk had run out of animals to distract Lily with.**

**Alex came up to where they were standing next to the fish, who were saying some very crude things indeed.**

"**I'm sorry sir, but we really must be going now." She said, smiling gratefully at the clerks efforts to distract her friend. "Thank you for _all _of your help" she said, but extra emphasis on the word all.**

**She steered Lily towards the door, where the boys were waiting outside, the cabbit hidden with a disillusionment charm and covered by the many folds of James' billowing cloak.**

**They walked in silence for a moment, James trying to conceal Lily's new friend, trying to keep the cage from falling, and trying to carry his Zonko products, and trying to appear perfectly normal all at the same time.**

**After about a minute, Lily finally broke the silence.**

"**I don't understand how someone could have bought that cabbit when she was for sale when we got there, but no one entered or even flooed the shop." She said quietly, almost to herself.**

**Alex looked around, spotted a shop, grabbed Remus by the arm and hurriedly said that she forgot to buy something. She hurried away, but not before giving Sirius a look.**

**Catching that hint, Sirius mumbled something about needing polish for his broom handle, then hurried to the quidditch store.**

**Things were quiet for a moment after he departed.**

"**Well, that certainly was odd." Lily said, stopping and truing to face James.**

"**Er, yeah, it was." James said awkwardly.**

"**James, are you ok?"**

"**Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm…fine" But in truth he had never been more nervous in his life.**

**"Lily, you know how you were saying that no one could have bought the cabbit, because no one was there besides us?" Lily nodded. "Well, what if you ever bought the cabbit _was _one of us?"**

**Lily looked at him baffled.**

"**Lily, I was the one who bought the cabbit."**

**Lily's eyes filled with confusion. She was about to question him, but what he said next cut her off.**

"**I bought her for you, kind of as a way to say sorry for all the things I used to do…" James drifted off, not sure what else to say next as he brought out the cage and re-illusioned the cabbit.**

**Lily took one look at the cage and flung her arms around James.**

"**Thank you thank you thank you!" she squealed, practically choking him.**

"**Lil-y! You are ch-choking m-me!" he spluttered.**

"**Oh! Sorry!" Lily gave him one more squeeze and backed off as James handed her the cage.**

**Lily peered inside. The cabbit squeaked happily as when she saw her and quickly tried to nuzzle her through the door.**

"**I guess we need to go back so I can get all her stuff." Lily said, her face glowing with happiness.**

"**Nope, I bought those too." Said James as he reached into his pocket and pulled out four or five parcels the size of buttons. He then undid the shrinking charm he had placed on them and added them to his ever-growing stack of packages. **

**Once again Lily hugged him, but not as hard as last time.**

**James breathed in deeply. She smelled like vanilla, something that had always smelled wonderful to him, but did more so now.**

**Ironically, Lily did the same. James was wearing a cologne that smelled crisp and clean, completely different from the sickly sweet odor that most guys wore, a scent that mad her want to gag.**

**When they finally broke their embrace Remus, Alex, and Sirius were walking back towards them from their "shopping". (Really they had rushed to the windows of the stores and pressed their faces against the panes, trying to see what was happening. Unfortunately Sirius had knocked down a display while he did this, so the manager had coming running, yelling at him and demanding that he leave. Sirius' reply was "Be quiet you old codger! I'm trying to listen!")**

"**Get all your, cough shopping cough done?" James said while glaring playfully at them.**

**Remus just shrugged while Alex muttered something about them not having what she was looking for. Sirius simply said "Nah, the old fogey that runs the place kicked me out. Again."**

"**Mmhm, right." James said, looking at their guilty faces in turn like a parent scolding three naughty children.**

**They looked at one another, then looked back at James defiantly, just as any child would.**

**Laughing, the group started back for the castle, each taking a turn at looking at the baby cabbit before handing her cage back to Lily.**

"**So what are you going to name her?" Alex asked eagerly.**

"**Hmm…I think I'll call her Tinkerbell, or Tink for short." She said, giving the cabbit the name of one of her favorite childhood fairy-tale characters.**

**Apparently, however, magical children didn't not watch movies like Peter Pan, for the four stared back at her.**

"**Finker-whosie?" Sirius asked.**

"**No Sirius, she I think she said Binkergell." James said, looking as bewildered as Sirius.**

"**You're both morons. She clearly said _Dinkerfell_!" Cyanne said, though she looked as confused as the two boys.**

"**But who is Finker-Binker-Dinker-kell?" Remus asked.**

**Lily could barely keep herself from laughing.**

"**Her name is _Tinkerbell_! T-i-n-k-e-r-b-e-l-l. Tinkerbell, or Tink, was a fairy from one of my favorite stories when I was little. She was named Tinkerbell because when she talked it sounded like tiny, tinkling, bells." Lily explained, finally controlling herself.**

**They all looked at her like she was crazy.**

"**What kinda demented fairy is that!" Sirius demanded.**

**Lily just giggled. She should have expected this. James and Sirius especially, since they were pure-bloods. She thought that Cyanne and Remus might have known since they were both half-bloods and loved to read.**

"**She's not a real fairy; she was made up by an author named J.M. Berri!" Lily explained between giggles.**

**So the group continued on their way to the castle with Sirius muttering something like "…psycho writer guy…"**

**Later that night, the Marauders, Lily, Cyanne, and Anna were lying around the common room. It was around one a.m. so everyone else was asleep.**

**Tink was bouncing around the room, sniffing everything with her pink little nose. She really was extremely cute.**

"**Excuse me, but I have an announcement to make!" Sirius said, acting ridiculously pompous. "I do believe, young'uns, that it is time that we played another prank." **

**James looked up excitedly from where he had been playing a game of exploding snap with Remus. His eyes got that same glint that he had that afternoon and he looked incredibly excited. Remus too looked excited, but slightly wary. Peter just looked down-right scared. Tammy, Alex, Lily, and Anna looked at each other, got up and moved slowly towards the staircase. **

"**We'll just be going now…" Anna said cautiously. When it came to the Marauders and their pranks, you never could tell what would happen.**

"**Oh no, you four fine young ladies will be joining us." Sirius said, still acting like a puffed up adult.**

"**Ok, first we need to come up with something, and it needs to be pretty big, I mean we've given them nearly a two weeks peace. They're going to think we've lost our nerve." James said as everyone huddled together. Tink was trembling excitedly in the middle of their circle, almost as if she understood what was going on. _Must be one of her powers, understanding our language _Lily though, looking fondly down at her.**

**And so they began to plot.**

Mwahahaha! What evil is in store Hogwarts? Review or I won't tell you!


	13. The Prank

**Chapter Thirteen- The Prank**

**Three days later, the prank was ready to be carried out. Lily, Anna, Alex and Tammy had told Alex, Tammy, and Kyree about it, so combined with the Marauders they had worked out all the kinks along with the Marauders. Their plan was absolutely fool-proof.**

**That morning they all headed down to breakfast, the Marauders excited, the girls nervous with thoughts of failure running through their heads. What if something went wrong? They could accidentally poison someone or something! **(a/n: that was a hint on what the prank is  well not really _what, _but _where_)

**The Marauders quietly reassured them as they entered The Great Hall.**

"**It's ok, relax. None of our pranks has ever not gone the way it was supposed to." James said.**

"**What about that one in third year though? That one messed up ba-" Peter said, but quickly cut off as James and Sirius stepped on his foot.**

"**Don't worry, no one got hurt. The prank was actually improved." Remus said quickly, seeing the look of horror on the girls' faces.**

**Most of the students were already there, talking excitedly about the quidditch match later on in the day, the first of the season, Gryffindor versus Slytherin.**

**Lily, her friends, and the Marauders sat down, all facing the Slytherin table. They all darted excited/nervous smiles at each other as the food appeared on the tables. Still more** **students spilled through the doors, until all the tables were finally filled.**

**The Marauders and their accomplices didn't notice this, however, for they were staring avidly at the table across from them, where Slytherins were greedily filling their plates.**

**Anna and Tammy looked at each other nervously as the first bites were taken; Alex muttered quietly, so that Lily, who was sitting right next to her had to strain to hear her "Here we go!";** **Remus was gripping his silverware tightly, a spoon full of porridge raised halfway to his mouth, but forgotten; Sirius and James nudged each other, grinning while Peter looked like he was about to pee himself.**

**The noise level went down slightly as the talking, laughter, and rude remarks died abruptly at the Slytherin table, where everyone was quiet as they ate their peculiar tasting food. They all looked down at their plates or each other in horror.**

**In mere seconds, the Great Hall fell silent, staring in shock at the Slytherin table, where chaos was breaking loose.**

**The couples of Slytherin were now staring at each other, for they seemed to have switched personalities and voices. The girls were now looking down at themselves in horror, while the guys shrieked and screamed shrilly.**

**Indeed, it was extremely disturbing to hear the voice of Lucius Malfoy coming out of the body of the pretty Narcissa Black. Her steely grey eyes widened as they looked at her perfectly manicured nails, felt her wavy blonde hair, and then began to let forth a torrent of deep swear words in a voice way to masculine to be hers.**

**The Slytherins without boyfriends/girlfriends, however, were being pranked in a completely different way.**

**All the single girls were now acting as if they were male construction workers, while the single guys now seemed to think they were female, world-famous, belly dancers.**

**Venissa Parkinson could be seen trying to hit on Kaylana Knott, who currently had the voice and personality of Stephen Cockly, declaring that her name was not Venissa, but "Pablo".**

**Meanwhile, the guys were dancing in a way that made Professor McGonagall's eyes widen in shock and Professor Sprout's jaw to drop. The "belly-dancers" were definitely dancing in a way that would definitely not have been allowed, but the most disturbing part was that they were trying to dance against the personality-changed boys, as they now believed themselves to be female.**

**Noise filled the hall suddenly as laughter broke out among the other tables.**

**The Marauders had struck again.**

A/N: Sorry this one was kinda short. And if anyone took offense to this chapter and the prank, im reallyreallyreallyreally sorry, I just got the idea from this hypnotist that did a show on a cruise I went on about a month ago. He made all the guys that volunteered think they were belly-dancers and the girls think that they were construction workers, so if anyone took offense for any reason, sorry! Don't hate me! (And I guess it's one of those "you had to be there" kinda things, so sorry if the prank seems lame to you, but at the moment I lack the imagination to think of something original. If you have any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated) 


	14. The Match

**Chapter Fourteen- The Match**

**The rest of the day passed as normally as possible, with the Slytherins still caught in the prank. Not wanting to win the match by advantage, however, the prankers had made sure that the Slytherins would be back to normal by the match.**

**Once again the Slytherins hate their food that once again tasted funny.**

**Relief spread through the couples as the antidote took hidden in their lunches took effect, while confusion spread like a disease through the others. Boys looked down in shock to find themselves in the dresses and skirts of belly dancers, while girls looked down bewilderedly as they saw that they were wearing stained and dusty shirts and ripped baggy pants.**

**Once again laughter rippled through the Great Hall, this time at the looks of puzzlement that the Slytherins had on their faces.**

**After lunch, the entire school filed down to the Quidditch Pitch, talking merrily. (with the exception of they Slytherins, they looked extremely sulky and slightly murderous)**

**The stadium was filled with noise as the Gryffindor team stepped out onto the pitch. Thunderous applause and cheering was mixed with jeering and catcalls. Green and silver banners clashed with scarlet and gold ones. Boos and hissing rose from the Slytherins as Terry Jordan, the commentator, called out the names of the Gryffindor players.**

"**Wood, Lupin, Boot, Dion, Black, Calhoun, aaaannnndddd……Potter!"**

**The players smiled as the tumultuous applause swept over them.**

**Matt Woods stepped up and shook hands with Theodore Knott as Terry called the names of the Slytherin players with a definite drop in enthusiasm.**

"**Knott, Avery, Jenkins, Cokly, Carlisle, Durrwood, and…erm…what's that blokes name? Oh, yeah, right. And Lestrange."**

**Madam Hooch stepped out onto the field, holding the chest containing the quaffle, bludgers, and the snitch.**

**James and Sirius pumped each other on the back, grinning, while Remus looked like he might be sick, but that might just have been because the full moon was approaching. **

**Kyree Dion and Larissa Calhoun nervously bid each other good luck.**

"**I want a clean game, otherwise you can be sure you'll have a penalty before you can say 'Nimbus'." Madam Hooch said, glaring at both teams, but letting her gaze linger sternly on Avery, who was known for his outrageous fouls.**

**The players mounted their brooms as the whistle shrieked shrilly, kicking up at the same time.**

"**And it's Jenkins, Cokly, Durrwood, Avery, and…nice bludgers there by Black! Dion takes possession, passes to Calhoun, who passes to Lupin, then back to Calhoun, back to Lupin, back to Dion! Oh! Narrow miss there! Dion almost takes a bludgers to the head as she regains possession of the quaffle, passes to Lupin, aaaannnndddd……he scores! Ten nil to Gryffindor!"**

**The play resumed with Remus making two more scores, along with several from Kyree and Larissa. They were helped by Sirius, for every time on of the Slytherins got hold of the quaffle, he pelted a bludger at them, causing them to drop it.**

"**Oi! Black! Cut it out with the mad bludgers! I'm getting bored out of my socks back here!" Wood called, for it was true. Sirius, along with the three chasers, had prevented anything from even passing the half-way mark on the field.**

"**Righto chief!" Sirius yelled back, grinning cheekily.**

"**Hey! You lot! Our captain wants a bit of action! Let them at least shoot at the hoops once!" he exclaimed, passing on Matt's message.**

"**Okay, here they come!" Larissa said as she threw the quaffle straight at Brooke Jenkins, who squealed like a pig in her surprise, dropping it. Sirius rolled his eyes. _How thick can you get?_ He thought, watching her in disgust. _No wonder they never make it to our side of the pitch. _Knott ended up catching the quaffle and he streaked towards Wood with a stupid glint in his eye.**

**Sirius took a seriously (**a/n: no pun intended! Don't shoot me!**) misaimed blow at the bludger nearest to him.**

"**Oh dear…I seem to have missed the bludger. Good heavens. Golly-gee-wiz. How will we ever survive." He said sarcastically, before turning to face James, who grinned and rolled his eyes good-naturedly.**

"**Dear Merlin, Sirius. You shall be the death of us." He said dryly.**

**Sirius grinned at zoomed off to join Jack Boot, who was pelting bludgers a everyone but Avery, who was hogging the quaffle.**

**James turned back to scanning the field for any sign of the little golden snitch. Slytherin's seeker, Lestrange, was doing the same.**

**After a few minutes, Gryffindor was still winning, 180-10. The only reason Slytherin had scored was because one of the beaters had hit Wood with a bludger when Madam Hooch wasn't looking, causing him to lose his breath, and allowing Stephen Carlisle to score.**

**James grinned as he spotted the snitch, then shot after it a split-second later.**

**It wasn't long before Lestrange tried to catch up with him and the little golden orb, but as James was a much better player, with an immensely better broom. They swooped, dived, and plummeted as the snitch beat its tiny little wings, trying to avid its would-be captors. **

**They continued the chase, until suddenly, it was over. James rose victoriously into the air, his fist clenched tightly the snitch.**

**The Gryffindors rose as one, cheering and applauding loudly.**

**They had won.**

A/N: Woot woot, another chappie done! Im on a roll man! Not really, but w/e.


	15. Breaking the Habit

**Chapter Fifteen-Breaking the Habit**

_**I don't know why I instigate, **_

_**And say what I don't mean,**_

_**I don't know how I got this way,**_

_**I know it's not alright,**_

_**So I'm breaking the habit,**_

_**Breaking the habit,**_

_**Breaking the habit,**_

_**Tonight.**_

_**Linkin Park**_

**James walked down the dark corridor, smiling as he submerged himself in his thoughts. Over the months, he and Lily had become extremely close. Sure, they weren't exactly going out, but it was only a matter of time. He had even stopped rumpling his hair as much, although by now it had become a habit not easily broken. James reached up and tried to flatten his unmanageable locks, but it was in vain. No matter how much he brushed it, how much hair spray or gel he used his hair never seemed to want to lye flat. **

**James glanced around the empty hallway. He hated the first couple hours of patrolling, he had no one to talk to. At least he got to join back up with Lily when they patrolled the dungeons. James could still remember what she had said to him before they split up.**

**Flashback**

**Lily and James walked side-by-side down the dark, empty corridors.**

"**Really though, if you make even the slightest mistake, you could fall to off and kill yourself! I honestly don't know how you can trust your life to a stick with twigs attached to the end of it." Lily said. For the past half-hour or so Lily and James had been bantering playfully about broomsticks, flying, and quidditch. **

"**Yes, but when I'm flying, I just get this feeling, like……I can't explain it exactly, but it's like I'm……like I'm free." James paused, turning to face Lily, who stopped walking. "I just feel like I left all my problems and the shit in my life on the ground. It's the only time that I feel like I can get away from everything." James inwardly winced. That last part had been a lie, but he couldn't exactly tell her that he felt the same way when he transformed, because then he would have to either lie to her, which he didn't want to do more than he already had, or tell her about Moony's lycanthropy. He couldn't do that though, it wasn't his secret to tell.**

**They continued on in silence, until they came to a T.**

"**Well, I guess it's time to split up again." Lily said, somewhat reluctantly.**

"**Yeah, I guess." James turned to walk away, his footsteps resounding in the dark, gloomy passage.**

"**James, wait!" Lily called after him.**

**He turned around too face her.**

"**I know you've done a lot for me already, but could you promise me one last thing?"**

**James nodded, eyeing her warily.**

"**Try not to get into any fights with the Slytherins." Seeing James opening his mouth to protest, she hastily added, "I'm not saying that you shouldn't defend yourself; just don't actually pick any fights with them. Please James? For me?"**

**James stared at her for a moment, but finally the emerald eyes won him over.**

"**For you." He replied, smiling faintly.**

**Lily hugged him for a second, then turned back around and walked down the corridor.**

**End Flashback**

**James smiled at the memory. _If I can just keep thinking about things like that, I'm sure this bloody patrol will seem a lot shorter _James thought to himself. **

**The night was quiet and dark with rain spattering at the stained-glass windows. Thunder pounded over head, while the gale continued to beat mercilessly at the roof. The sky boiled thick, black, and angry. Nobody seemed to think it was worth sneaking out on a night like this. There were no snogging couples hiding behind statues, no hungry students sneaking out for a late-night snack.**

**The two hours passed uneventfully, and James headed down to the dungeons, glad to partner back up with Lily.**

**James stopped outside the door that led into the dungeons. Lily wasn't there yet, so he just waited. Checking to make sure no one was watching, James slipped his hand into hi pocket and pulled out the Marauders Map.**

"**I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He said, smiling at the words that the Marauders had decided upon.**

**Spouts of shining, black ink ran across the surface, crossing, turning, zigzagging, forming corridors, classrooms, and closets. Staircases appeared, walls cut off one room from the next, and the feet that marked the location of various teachers and ghosts paced around.**

**James scanned the map. Lily was one floor above him, but heading towards the staircase. Looking further, James saw that Dumbledore was talking somebody using floo powder, while Fawkes circled overhead; Mrs. Norris was chasing a mouse in the Great Hall; Peeves was flooding the boys loo on the eighth floor by running the tabs continuously and clogging the toilets, then flushing them repeatedly; and Snape was brewing a potion, no doubt an unpleasant one (**A/N: Shudders**), in his quarters.**

**Turning his gaze back to Lily, he noticed she was about to descend the staircase right behind him.**

**Moving quickly, James tapped the map and hurriedly muttered "Mischief managed." He began to fold the map as the lines of ink swiftly sunk into the parchment. He was just finishing stuffing it into his pocket when Lily appeared on the stairs.**

"**Hullo James!" she called brightly.**

"**Hello Lily", James replied, smiling.**

"**Shall we go then?"**

"**Of course. After you."**

**James pulled open the door and let Lily go in first.**

"**Thank you kind sir", she said, laughing.**

**James grinned and followed her through the doorway, shutting it behind her.**

**They were in semi-darkness. Torches leered at them from the wall, the flames flickering in the wavering light. Droplets of water dripped from in between the damp stones of ceiling, echoing off the slimy walls as they fell, forming small puddles on the dark, stone floor. It wasn't a very cheery place.**

**James gasped as the cold hit him. _Dear Merlin, this place is FREEZING! _James thought, his teeth starting to chatter uncontrollably. **

**Lily's breath was coming out in white clouds; goose bumps were already starting form on her arms, which she was rubbing, trying to keep them warm.**

"**I guess we should get this over with" James said, starting forward.**

**He and Lily huddled together as they walked, both trying to stay as warm as possible; both too cold to realize how much they liked being so close to the other. (**A/N: That's got to be pretty dang cold!)

**They walked onward, each the others company. No one spoke, and for the next ten minutes there was complete silence except for the desolate "drip-drip" of the water upon the cold, stone floors. How the Slytherins were able to live there, they had no clue.**

**After they had walked through the main corridors of the dungeons, they were turning to return to the Great Hall and warmth, when they heard voices from a corridor that they had not seen before. Moving forward quietly, Lily and James came upon a group of Slytherins huddled together and conversing quietly. They were Severus Snape, James stepped forward, moving into the light.**

"**What are you doing down here, Potter?" Snape spat, glaring at James with a deep loathing.**

"**Patrolling. The whole Heads thing kinda requires it to keep gits like you from wandering around during the night" James answered coolly.**

"**Not that you would know, of course" Lily added, smiling sweetly.**

**Snape glared icily at her before turning to James again. "I see you've taught the mudblood whore how to speak. What else has she been trained to do?"**

**James' hands curled into tight fists as Lily's eyes filled with fire. He moved forward, his wand starting to raise, but Lily beat him to it.**

**_CRACK_**

**Snape staggered back as blood started to pour from his nose. Lily wiped her hand that she had punched him with on her robes as if she had touched something particularly foul.**

"**Great, now my hand well be greasy for a month" she said, turing her back on Snape and starting to walk away.**

"**I could report you to Dumbledore for this!" Snape sputtered from behind the blood flow.**

**Lily spun around to face him, her eyes narrowed and flashing. "Just like I could report _you _for being out past curfew, insulting me, and trying to goad James into a fight" she replied, her voice low and dangerous before turning once again and storming back towards the stairs. James watched her go, feeling slightly proud of her in an odd sort of way, before turning back to the Slytherins and raising his wand again.**

"**You have until I finish my incantation to get out of her, so I suggest you start running" he said, grinning wickedly at them.**

**The Slytherins glanced at each other for a split second, then turned and fled as James' wand start shooting sparks dangerously.**

A/N: ok, once again a short chapter, but these are mostly fillers to show James and Lily's relationship growing stronger and James backing off the hexing thing. Yes, I know he did threaten them, but it was an empty threat that worked just the same. And I've been getting several reviews about being confused, so here's a short summary about what's been going on so far:

Harry, Ron, and Hermione discover Hermione's time-turner in the days after Dumbeldore's funeral. Harry comes up with the idea of going back in time and saving his parents. They do just that, but when Harry defeats Voldemort, he triggers something in history that causes everyone to be thrown back in time to James and Lily's seventh year. (Yes, I know, that's not really logical, but then again, hardly anything is in Harry Potter, it's a book about magic for goodness sake! And remember this _is _a fanfic, so anything I say goes :P) Since Harry, Ron, and Hermione did not exist in this time period, they are no longer part of the story until they are born. (Think of it as someone hitting the rewind button on life and everyone becoming younger and younger, Ron, Harry, and Hermione to the point where they are non-existent). The rest of the story is going to be on James and Lily; their seventh grade year and beyond.

There you go, a basic summary of the story so far. I'm considering writing a sequel to this about Harry, Hermione, and Ron's lives without Voldemort, but it's not a sure thing yet. Tell me how you like the idea though!

6


	16. Moonlight Magic

**Chapter Sixteen-Moonlight Magic**

_I don't wanna close my eyes_

_I don't wanna fall asleep_

_Cause I'd miss you, babe_

_And I don't wanna miss a thing_

_Cause even when I dream of you_

_The sweetest dream will never do_

_I'd still miss you, babe_

_And I don't wanna miss a thing I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing, _Aerosmith

**Lily and James sat in the common room several months later, staring at the flames warmly licking at the grate. Snow fell gently outside, coating everything in a fine white powder that glittered in the moonlight. Christmas decorations glittered in the firelight; a tall tree stood in the corner, seeming to be eagerly waiting for the presents that would sit underneath it tomorrow morning. Holly adorned the mantle, while mistletoe hung at the foot of the staircase leading to the dormitories.**

**They were the only ones there, for Sirius, Remus, Anna, Tammy, and Alex had managed to get everyone cleared out so as to give them some privacy. They of course, didn't know that; they had just assumed that everyone was sleeping, or taking walks or something.**

**For several hours James and Lily sat with each other, talking and laughing about anything and everything that came to mind. It was getting late though, and Lily could feel her eyes starting to droop. **

"**I think I'm going to head on up to bed" she said starting to get up and head for the stairs. She had reached their foot when James stopped her. Getting up and walking slowly towards her, he appeared to be taking deep breaths and trying to gather nerves.**

"**Lily…I know I'm not the greatest guy. You could go out and find hundreds of others that are smarter, more handsome, and just better in general. I know I've made a lot of mistakes in the past, and that I've done incredibly stupid things that I wish I could take back. I know I can't though, so I've been trying my best to show you that I've changed. So what I'm asking is if you would do me the honor of going out with me?"**

**Lily looked at him, smiling slightly, her eyes glittering in the flicker of the flames. **

"**Well, since you asked nicely…" she said, now grinning at him. He grinned back, and moved closer towards her, slightly hesitant, but relaxed when she moved towards him as well.**

**Lily looked into James eyes as they got closer and closer. For a split second, she seemed to be drowning in them. Then their lips connected.**

A/N: Ok, sorry it's so short, and it took me _forever _to finish it, but I just started high school for the first time back in August, and I'm in the marching band there too, so I've had practices for that almost everyday of the week. It's been pretty hectic. Plus I wanted to make sure I could get this as good as possible before I posted it. I'm still not sure if I'm quite happy with it, but it'll have to do I suppose. I think some of you out there are just about ready to strangle me for want of a new chapter, and some people probably thought I'd just given up on the story all together. I hope no one thinks that, because as you can see, that is definitely not the case. Ok, now for some replies to some reviews I got:

becca (): I don't see the big deal about calling them that, however, if you insist…

brona (): I don't mind . However, it would be nice if, should someone know anything, people left comments as well as any info. they might have . Thanks!

riley (): Ok, one: you don't make sense. "..and unless u contue past 7 year in this fan fic wqith it name meens!" What in the world is that supposed to mean? Two: I think you'll find the name has everything to do with the story. "What if", as in "what if Voldemort hadn't killed Harry's parents?". As in "what if Voldemort hadn't even existed?". Yeah, I think the title has a _lot _to do with the story. (Sorry if I sound like a jerk, but seriously, I couldn't make anything of that sentence, and just reading the summary would have clearly showed how the title and story line fit together.)

Sweet-Sunshyne: I'm glad you liked the chapters with Harry and his friends, I'm planning (well, thinking about. I'm not quite sure if I will or not, but it's a definite possibility. Especially if people like this story and want me to continue) on writing a sequel to "What If" that is all about Harry, Hermione, and Ron's time at Hogwarts. Yeah, it was supposed to be kind of a shocker when time just reversed itself like that. Oh, and you got your kiss ;). Thanks for the review!

Seadrance: Unfortunately, no, I haven't read your fanfiction yet, I haven't read any in several months as a matter of fact. Like I said, I've been busy. I'll check it out when I get the chance though! 

the DragonBard: Thank you SO MUCH for pointing that out! You're the only one that caught that! I fixed it though, so know instead of Dumbeldore being there, Sirius is instead. Thanks again! 

Ok, well, I don't want to do too many others, because this is starting to get as long as the chapter. However, I _do _want to dedicate this chapter to my boyfriend Jimmy, who actually has given me a lot of inspiration for this and the last couple chapters, even though he didn't know it . Thanks, ya big loser! ;) Oh, and I know that the term "go out with" wasn't really used back then, but after a bit of debate I though it sounded better then "would you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?".


	17. Author's Note

Hey guys, it's me. I just wanted to let you know that I am soooo incredibly sorry that I haven't updated in _forever._ I've been having a writers block about the size of the Great Wall. Unfortunately that's about the best excuse I can come up with (even if it is true, I could have tried harder). I just hope you haven't all given up on me as a lost cause. I'm not, I swear. I know that most of you are probably going to be after my head after such a long…well, disappearance is, unfortunately, the best word. I promise I shall try to update as often as I can though from now on. Please excuse some pauses in updates though; I do have other commitments that need attending to before this one. Like school, for starters (can't wait for my sophomore year to start :D). I just wanted to let you guys know that I have not, in fact, dropped off the face of the earth. I would like some suggestions on how to give the story more action…like what to do with Peter. I have to go for now, but I promise to put a real chapter up soon! Thanks for being patient with me 

ibelieveinsnorkacks


	18. The Betrayal

**Chapter Seventeen- The Betrayal**

_Blurring and stirring the truth and the lies_

_So I don't know what's real and what's not_

_Always confusing the thoughts in my head_

_So I can't trust myself anymore_

_I'm dying again_

_Going Under_, Evanescence

**Meanwhile, as Remus and Sirius sat by the fire talking (or rather, Remus sat by the fire while Sirius bounced around the deserted common room, talking to Remus over his shoulder), Peter walked in, glaring at Sirius' hyper antics, while walking towards their dorm.**

"**Petey!" Sirius exclaimed while running towards him, completely oblivious to the cold stare in Peter's eyes. "Hey Wormtail! Wanna play a prank on the sleeping first years?" He asked, bouncing energetically around Peter.**

"**Not particularly." Peter answered icily.**

**Sirius resumed running around the common room. Remus, who had given up on talking to Sirius, looked up from the book he had pulled out. Noticing Peter's cool demeanor, he put the book down on the coffee table and walked over to him.**

"**Peter, are you alright?" asked Remus, concerned. Peter turned his glare to Remus and away from the hyperactive Sirius, who was still bouncing around while shouting suggestions of things they could do.**

**Over his shouts of "Or we could sneak down to the kitchens, or go swim in the lake, or go to Hogsmeade, or sneak into the Slytherin's dorms and turn them pink…" Peter just looked at Remus with frozen eyes, turned away, and walked into the dorm, slamming the door behind him.**

**Remus faced the threshold where Peter had disappeared, concerned for his friend; Peter had been acting very peculiar.**

"**Sirius, have you noticed anything odd about Peter lately?" he inquired, hoping Sirius would calm down for a few minutes and act like the civilized human he wasn't. Fortunately for Remus, who was starting to get a headache, he did.**

**Sirius stopped sliding down the banisters and said seriously "Actually, I have. He's been very off; he refuses to join in on the pranks, he never laughs with us anymore, he glares at us constantly (especially when James and Lily are around), he never stays in the same room with us for longer than necessary. And I keep catching him with Naki Kalla, that evil Ravenclaw that's in our year. I swear he's a snake in bird's feathers."**

**Remus blinked in surprise. He hadn't known Sirius was that observant. "Wow Sirius, I didn't know you noticed anything besides pretty girl's bums," he commented lightly.**

**Sirius grinned cheekily. "Well, I do like to venture out of the world of bums occasionally, but don't expect it that often." Winking, Sirius bounced up and resumed his hyper excursion around the room.**

**Remus rolled his eyes, grinning, and started reading his book again, while Sirius promptly started jumping on the couches.**

**Inside the dorm, Peter glared at the door from his bed. He couldn't believe he had once thought of them as being his friends. Luckily, Naki had shown him how wrong he had been. She had shown Peter how they had never really cared for him, how they had only been using him; making him fetch everything, humiliating him, making a servant of him. James especially. Peter's eyes gained a hard glint. James Potter, the handsome, charming boy who had dared to call himself Peter's friend. James, always strutting around like some puffed up peacock, when he should have been crawling in the dirt where he belonged. He was always bragging and showing off, making him feel like a complete imbecile. Anger flared in Peter's chest. And Sirius was no better. Always making loud, aggravating jokes; constantly attracting the girls that Peter fancied **(A/N: Not on purpose)**. James had done it some, too. And he had broken poor Naki's heart as well. Even Remus wasn't much better. He was always correcting Peter, making him feel even stupider than James did. Well, that was all about to change. Naki had come up with a plan that would hurt James, hurt him deeply. And by hurting James, he would in turn be hurting the other self-proclaimed "Marauders". Peter sneered at the name, glad he would soon be able to give up this façade of friendship, and all the humiliation that came with it. Soon, he would have them crawling and slithering in the dust, where they belonged.**

**Naki lay in her four poster bed, looking at the silk canopy, and dwelling on her plan. She sneered with scorn as Lily Evans came to mind. Naki would soon make her feel the pain she herself had felt, feel the torment that would rack her for months on end. Once everything had been carried out, Naki would have a vice like grip on the perfect Lily's heart, and be able to squeeze as hard as she wanted, and watch Lily cry, and then crumble. And that pathetic marshmallow of a boy was all she needed to carry out the plan. Just him and the polyjuice potion that was simmering quietly in the Room of Requirement at that very moment. Her thoughts turning back to Peter, Naki grinned cynically. He had been so easy to use, to manipulate. His emotions had been hers to control, to twist; so ready to betray the only friends he had ever had, and would ever have. And simply because he had already felt overshadowed by them, try as they might to include him. It had been so simple. All she had needed to do was plant doubt in his mind, and he had watered it willingly. Now it was a thorny, poisonous vine, wildly taking over reason. Soon, everything would be ready. And then she would watch gleefully as Lily Evans fell.**

A/N: Yay! The first finished chapter after my prolonged absence! Will Peter (he doesn't even deserve the name "Wormtail", in my opinion) do something incredibly sinister, like torture, or even…GHASP kill someone?! Or will he do something laughable that only and idiot would think up? And what in the world is up with the creepy Naki chick? Wait and find out! (Goodness, I feel like a t.v. voice over for crappy show)


	19. Poisonous Kiss

**Chapter 18-Poisonous Kiss**

_And I will find a way - everything you are I will betray_

_Oh, I swear that I will find a way_

_Made of Scars, _Stone Sour

_What I'm thinking now _

_When I take you out _

_We can always start to havoc death till it comes_

_My Fist, Your Mouth, Her Scars; _Bullet for my Valentine

**James walked slowly down the corridor one night, on his way back to the common room from quidditch practice, thinking about the past years he had spent at Hogwarts. It was finally starting to hit him that his seven years were almost up; they were over halfway through they're last year. He was sure he'd be coming back, if only to visit the school and all his teachers, but it wouldn't be the same. In a number of months, he would never be able to wander the corridors at night under the safety of his Invisibility Cloak with Sirius, Peter, and Remus, nor would he ever sleep in one of the four poster beds again. No more pranks on the Slytherins, or Quidditch practices in the rain. He was really going to miss this place. James was worried about Sirius, too. Even before he had run away, Sirius had never considered his parent's house his home. Hogwarts had always served that purpose, and then later on, James' house as well. Although Sirius still had the Potter home, James was worried about how Sirius would take the loss of his first surrogate home. Maybe they could both stay with James' parents for a bit, and then move into their own flat or something. Sirius wouldn't be able to handle living alone for awhile yet; he was too social. And James wasn't keen on the idea either. Moving out and being independent would be great and all, but why do it alone? He would present the idea to Sirius tomorrow.**

**As he turned the corner, James heard someone call his name softly. Looking around, he saw Anna beckoning to him from a partially opened door that lead to a deserted classroom. Walking over, he stood before the threshold, where she had opened the door completely.**

"**Hey Anna, what's up?" James asked, looking closely at her. She had an odd gleam in her eye that had never been there before.**

"**There's something I have to tell you James, it's really important," Anna replied, glancing quickly down at her watch. "Come in here, I don't want anyone to overhear us."**

**Nodding, James passed into the room, and made to close the door.**

"**No!" Anna looked furtively down the corridor. "Uh, I mean, I don't want any teachers to think we're up to something…" she trailed off quietly. James raised his eyebrows and her less-than-normal behavior, but decided not to comment.**

**Lily walked briskly along the hall, clutching James' note in her hand. Looking down at it, she quickly read over it again, to make sure she had gotten it right.**

_**Dear Lily-Flower, **_

_**There's something I want to show you. Please meet me in the old Charms class on the second floor corridor tonight at 9:00 p.m. I really want you to see this, so I can share it with you.**_

_**I love you,**_

_**James**_

**Lily recalled how the note had suddenly appeared in a shower of silver glitter, along with a beautiful, perfect calla lily. However, it had been the "I love you" that had intrigued her the most. Although they both new that was how they felt about each other, neither had wanted to be the first to say it, for worry about the other not returning the affection quite so deeply.**

**Glancing at her watch, Lily hurried on, anxious to see James' surprise. It was almost 9 now, but she was almost there. She would make it on time.**

"**What was it you needed to tell me?" James pressed after several moments of silence. Anna kept watching the corridor, as if she was expecting someone to come down along it at any moment. Ignoring him, she continued to watch the doorway, until after a couple of seconds, light footsteps could be heard coming their way. A smirk appeared across her mouth; it looked completely out of place on Anna's normally kind face. Turning back to James she walked forward slowly.**

"**Oh, nothing in particular," she finally answered, and she no longer sounded like herself either, "I just wanted to give you something…"**

**James watched, confused, as she closed the space between them. Putting her hands on the desktop he had sat upon, one on either side of him, she quickly leaned forward and pressed her lips hard onto his. **

**Lily turned the corner, and seeing the open door, started to walk forward. She stopped in shock, in time only to see Anna, one of her best friends, lean in to kiss James, her boyfriend of several months. She felt something tear inside her chest, and then her whole body, her whole consciousness go numb. She ripped her eyes from the sight of them, and backed away slowly, turning around to go back from where she had come, her feet moving mechanically, her mind completely blank.**

**James froze in shock. Paralyzed, it was several moments before he was able to move again. Pushing her roughly away, James jumped off the desk, eyes flashing.**

"**What the Hell are you playing at?!" he exclaimed, still in disbelief. "In case you hadn't realized, I'm ****dating**** one of your **_**best friends**_**!"**

**Anna continued to smirk at him; if she hadn't been a girl, he would have loved nothing more than to smack it off her face.**

"**I wouldn't be worried about that for much longer, if I were you," she replied. Then walking to the door, she paused to look back. "Goodnight, James." Now laughing quite maniacally, and, thought James, hysterically, she closed the door behind her.**

**Sinking to the floor, James buried his head in his hands. He had to tell Lily. What a lovely conversation that would be. How was he supposed to tell the girl he loved that one of her best friends had just tried to snog him? He had always been for making sure Lily's friends felt like they were part of the group (which they were, now), but this was ridiculous. Groaning, James grabbed handfuls of his hair, almost ripping it out.**

_**What am I going to do?**_

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you like this chapter; I'm about to start work on the next one…like, literally right now. So I should have that up tonight . Hope you guys all like it! If not, leave me a review and tell me why  I'd love to know what I can do make it better, what I can do to improve future chapters. However, flamers are extremely unwelcome. If you leave one, chances are you're going to get one back. Ciao! ibelieveinsnorkacks


	20. When Hearts Are Broken

**Chapter Nineteen- When Hearts Are Broken**

"_Thank you for making me feel like I am guilty_

_Making it easy to murder your sweet memory"_

_The Undertaker, _Puscifer

"_Now I will tell you what I've done for you,_

_50,000 tears I've cried,_

_Screaming, deceiving, and bleeding for you_

_And you still won't hear me"_

_Going Under, _Evanescence

**James walked into the portrait hole, looking around the common room for Lily. She usually waited for him to meet her here when his practices were done. Not seeing, her, he walked over to where Sirius and Remus were talking, both with frowns on their faces. Coming closer, he heard a snatch of their conversation before they realized he was there.**

"…**I don't know, it just doesn't seem like him. But she saw it with her own eyes, how could it not be true?" Remus was saying to a nodding Sirius.**

**James stopped before them as they looked up at him, surprised at their guarded expressions. **

"**Have you guys seen Lily?" he asked, looking around the room again. He was worried about what happened, and hadn't quite registered the way his friends were looking at him yet.**

**Remus and Sirius exchanged dark glances, and they're guarded expressions turned to accusing glares. **

"**She's upstairs with Alex and Tammy, if you must know." Remus looked at James warily, as if trying to make a choice. When he seemed to have settled his thoughts, he didn't seem to like his decision.**

"**She walked in like a zombie; barely made it through the hole before she collapsed on her knees. Scared the first years half to death, they thought she was having a fit or something. I had to threaten to hex them before they would leave. She's in a bad way, it even took Tammy and Alex ages before she would say anything to them." Sirius added, looking at the staircase to the girl's common room before turning back to look accusingly at James. Still not realizing something was different in their attitude towards him, James started for the stairs.**

**What had happened? He needed to tell her about Anna, but he didn't want to give her any more bad news if something was already wrong. And then it hit him. Dread filled his mind, and his heart sank down to somewhere past his lungs. Walking even faster towards the stairs, he desperately tried to climb them, not even making it halfway before they transformed. Sliding back down, he tried again, scrambling to try to get to Lily. The door opened as he slide down for a sixth time. Tammy stared coldly down at him.**

"**What do you want, Potter?" she said in a dangerously low voice, not unlike a hiss.**

"**I need to see Lily" he replied, desperately trying to see past her into the room.**

"**No, I don't think you do. She has no inclination to see you. And quite honestly, I don't exactly think I want a disgusting scumbag like you polluting our room either. James stared at her, frozen, his mouth opened in shock; he and Tammy had always gotten on very well. Narrowing her eyes further, she continued.**

"**Potter, I swear to God, if you ever go near her again, if you dare to so much as look at her, I will personally rip out your hair and stuff it down your throat. If you ever touch her again, I will hex you until not even that mirror you're so fond of looking in can recognize you." Turning, she slammed the door.**

**James slowly turned away and walked to his own dormitory. Sinking onto his bed, James tried to think through the thousands of thoughts swirling around his brain. Lily had seen. She thought he had wanted to kiss Anna. Now, along with his friends, she hated him. Lily, the love of his life, hated him. Wanted nothing to do with him.**

**Closing the hangings around his bed, James buried his face in his pillow, and for the first time in many years, he cried.**

**Lily lay sideways, curled up on her bed. Alex and Tammy sat on either side of her, holding her, wiping her tears, trying to tell her that it would be ok. She barely heard them. Tear after tear fell from her closed eyes, and it felt like they had always been there, burning a fiery trail down her cheek. She tried to block the memory and the thoughts that closed down around her, threatening her sanity. She wanted to feel numb, the way she had felt when she saw…no, she wouldn't think about that. A coldness crept around her, freezing her heart in it's icy, dagger-like fingers. The pain almost relaxed her. It gave her something to think about, it was like novocaine used to sweep the feeling from her heart. Now it could no longer feel the pain of being broken; it had a new pain, one that was welcome with open arms. Now it could forget.**

**Opening her eyes, Lily looked at her friends, and almost smiled. At least they were sticking with her. She wasn't sure what she would do if they hadn't. Some day soon she would have to face what had happened, but until then she knew her friends would be there for her, helping her stay in this cold oblivion.**

A/N: Ok, I'm done with another one :D. I hope you guys like it, it's short, but I tried to convey a lot of emotion. So I hope you like it. (Reviews are always welcome) ibelieveinsnorkacks


	21. Forsaken

**Chapter Twenty-Forsaken**

A.N.: Hey everyone, I just wanted to quickly apologize for a couple of things. The first is the mix-up with _Animal I Have Become _from the previous chapter. 30 Seconds to Mars is _not _the band that sings it, and I'm sorry that I put that. I just get the two confused sometimes, but as soon as gets their login system working again, I'll change it to 3 Days Grace the first chance I get. Thanks so much to those of you who saw the mistake and pointed it out to me. I also wanted to apologize for the wait, but I was pretty busy for awhile with band camp, then getting ready school to start tomorrow. Speaking of school, I just wanted to let you know that I don't know how often I'll be able to update, but I will try my hardest to get the chapters up fairly quickly :) .Thanks, hope you enjoy the chapter!

_My, my baby blue_

_Yeah I've been thinkin' 'bout you_

_My, my baby blue_

_Yeah you're so Jaded_

_And I'm the one that Jaded you_

_-Jaded, _Aerosmith

_I told myself I won't miss you_

_But I remember _

_What it feels like beside you_

_-Better Than Me, _Hinder

**A couple of weeks had passed, and James was in pain. No matter how hard he attempted to get Lily to talk to him, she never looked his way. In the halls, she walked by with her head held high, her face void of any emotion, refusing to betray her feelings. She never showed any pain, but she rarely showed joy either. This was a double-edged agony for James. She had shown no emotion towards him since the night it had happened. Had she really cared so little about him that she was able to grieve for a night, and then move on? At the same time though, he wanted her to move on. He wanted her to live normally. He wanted her back, but even if that wasn't going to happen, he wanted her happy. More than anything, he craved to see her smile again, even if she wouldn't smile at him.**

**----**

**Lily crossed her arms across her stomach, holding in the pain. The past couple of week had been hell for her. She had fought to remain indifferent, uncaring, but it was always now, in the void of time between when the unfeeling coma that had become her sleep took over, numbing her painful conscious. This was when the agony overruled her scrupulous mask. This was when the tears sneaked through, and began to mark their fiery path down her frozen face. Eventually, she would give up holding it in, and would let herself drown in the bitter wave of emotions. Curling up, Lily slowly unfurled her arms, and stared blankly at the canopy of her bed as the silent tears began to fall.**

**---**

**Anna watched the fire quietly. She was the last person to leave the common room. She never went to bed with Alex, Lily, and Tammy. If she could, she would go before them and pretend to be asleep. Most nights though, she stayed until she was sure they would be sleeping to go up to the room. She almost enjoyed watching the fire. Her friends had forsaken her, and its warmth was a welcome relief from the cold stares of Tammy and Alex. Theirs weren't the ones that cut into her, however. It was Lily's. Her eyes had become so…empty. The only time anyone could detect a flicker of life in them was when she looked at James or Anna. Drawing her knees up to her chest, Anna put her head on them and closed her eyes. She hated to see the way Lily looked at her. The pain and betrayal in her eyes washed over in a rolling tsunami whenever she looked at Anna. Shuddering, Anna squeezed her legs tighter to her body. She had heard the rumors that were sweeping the school. She had received many glares from people she had used to count among her friends, accusing looks from James. What hurt the most was that she didn't deserve them. She had no idea where people had gotten the idea that she had kissed James. She had been in the library studying that night; McGonagall had been warning them about a test that was to have taken place the next day. Now Anna was confused, hurt, and alone. No one would so much as pass her the pumpkin juice at dinner. She wasn't mad at them though. She knew something must have happened to make everyone think she had kissed James. She knew they wouldn't have made up that rumor to pass the time; who would want to hurt sweet Lily that way? But she didn't know what had really happened; she had no way to prove it wasn't her. At first she had though perhaps James had been behind it; why was he playing along if he wasn't? But then she had seen the pain on his face every day. He wasn't much better of than she was. His friends had become cold and distant. He kept to himself most days. **

**Sighing, Anna lay down, still facing the fire, on the couch. Maybe tonight she would just stay down here. A tear slid down her face, falling softly onto the cushions.**

**---**

**Naki sat reading in one of the armchairs of the Ravenclaw common room. Everything had gone exactly as she had hoped. Lily was broken, no matter how hard she tried not to show it. James was free again, and soon, he would notice her. She only had to wait. Smirking, Naki brought herself back to her book, smirking contently.**

A/N: Ok guys, I'm sorry this was kinda short, and if it seemed like a repeat of the last chapter. I just wanted to show how what happened was affecting everyone. I'll get the next chapter up as soon as possible, and I'll get the plot-line moving again. Let me know what you guys think so far :)

-ibelieveinsnorkacks


	22. Truth Uncovered

**Chapter Twenty-One: Truth Uncovered**

"_I love you_

_I've loved you all along_

_And I forgive you_

_For being away for far too long_

_So keep breathing_

'_Cause I'm not leaving_

_Hold on to me, _

_Never let me go"_

_ Far Away, _Nickelback

A/N: I'm sorry if the lyrics are in anyway wrong; please don't bite my head off about it. Tell me nicely and I'll fix it :), tell me rudely and deal with it.

**Sirius and Remus walked quietly down the hall, Remus looking sullen, Sirius sulking. It was now a month since "the Incident", as it was now being called, had occurred, and things were not going well. Lily was still resolutely hiding her pain silently behind a mask of dignity. Anna and James spent their days alone, cut off from their friends and the rest of the world, speaking to nobody. Whenever they encountered each other, James would stare past her, refusing to acknowledge her presence. Anna was frequently looking at her friends, pleading them to forgive her for something she had not done. Since they did not know this, they returned her glances with stony silences, never yielding to her confusion and hurt.**

**Relations with Peter had fallen apart as well. He seemed to gloat over the fact that Lily and James were so separated. He had sneered at their pain, laughing when the devastation had broken through. Disgusted, the school had turned their backs on him (all except the Slytherins, who seemed to find him amusing, almost jester-like). Shouting fights had broken out frequently between the other Gryffindors and Peter, especially between him and Sirius and Remus. On several occasions, the fights had almost become physical, and would have if it weren't for other student's restraint.**

**Remus sighed heavily, dismayed at how life could so abruptly take a change for the worst. He shook his head and stared at the floor as he and Sirius continued their silent trek through the corridors.**

**Remus looked at his watch, several hours later. Noticing curfew was dangerously near, he shook himself out of his reverie and looked around, trying to figure out where his and Sirius' wanderings had lead them. Realizing they were near the Ravenclaw common rooms, Remus stopped Sirius, who had kept walking, and pointed in the right direction. **

"**We better start heading back", he muttered, his voice slightly hoarse after the hours of silence. Sirius merely nodded, turning his shuffling walk down the corridor that Remus had indicated. **

**They had only walked a few steps when the sound of voices reached them. Hearing the words, Sirius and Remus looked at each other, then along the corridor, searching for somewhere to hide from which they could hear the rest of the conversation.**

"**Lily Evans is so gullible; it was laughably easy to trick her into believing it was that Anna girl. And I got my kiss, to boot." **

**Sirius tugged on Remus' arm, having just recognized one of the many secrets of Hogwarts. He quickly lifted a nearby tapestry, revealing a hollow square in the wall, deep enough only to hide a small group of people. The voices came closer, one laughing and the other smug. Peering around the very edges of the tapestry, Remus and Sirius were able to vaguely see the form of two girls walk into the corridor perpendicular to the one that had just been standing in. **

**One girl was short and squat, with frizzy red hair, and seemed to be in 5****th**** year. Neither Sirius nor Remus knew her name, and knew only that she was an unpleasant Ravenclaw they occasionally saw in the halls. The other was also a Ravenclaw, but in their year, with brown hair that was short and spiked, and slightly reminiscent of a hay stack. To Sirius, she was also unnamed, but Remus was able to recall that people called her Nakki, since they had Transfiguration together. Remus traded his sight for sound, placing his ear where his eye had been, careful not to rustle the tapestry or make any sound.**

**The two girls stopped in front of the spiral staircase that would take them to the common room, apparently unwilling to go further while having their current discussion. **

"**Oh go on, Nakki, how'd you do it?" The squat girl squealed in an unpleasantly nasal and high-pitched voice. The Nakki girl grinned and seemed to deliberate, probably to keep her eager audience in suspense.**

"**It was easy, really. All I needed was some polyjuice potion, which I made, and a hair and some robes of the Orlando girl. Pettigrew got that willingly enough for me. Then I just had him tell me James' quidditch schedule, and the nearest test that would keep Orlando out of the way. Then I just sent Lily a note, pretending to be James, and had her go to the classroom I had cornered James in. All it took was some good timing on my part, and he was kissing me before he knew it, with his lovely little girlfriend as an audience. He was so shocked he didn't even realize what was happening until it was too late." Nakki grinned, obviously extremely pleased with herself. **

**Remus and Sirius looked at each other in shock, deaf to the continued conversation of the two Ravenclaws. They were only regained control of their thoughts when the slamming of a door alerted them to the fact that the girls had gone to their common room. Peeking around the tapestry, the boys climbed out, still in disbelief. They began to run back to their common room, desperate to share the truth.**

A/N: Sorry it isn't very long, and it ends abruptly, but I don't have long to write, and since it took longer than I thought it would for me to get anything up, I wanted to post this one quickly. I'll get the next one up as soon as possible. Hope you enjoyed it :)

ibelieveinsnorkacks


	23. Author's Note 2

**Authors Note (Please read!):**

**I am so incredibly sorry that it is taking such a long time for me to get the next chapter up, but I've been restricted from the computer. I'm only allowed on 30 minutes per day, and not ever day. Only weekends, I think, which, with my schedule, basically amounts to Sundays. I'm so sorry guys, but don't get too frustrated. I am writing off the computer, and whenever I can get on my computer, I'll type up as much as I can. I don't know how long this will last, so please just bear with me. Again, I'm sorry, but I'll try to keep the delays as short as possible.**

**-ibelieveinsnorkacks **


	24. Mended Hearts

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Mended Hearts**

"_Now I'm heels over head,_

_I'm hanging upside down,_

_Thinking how you left me for dead…"_

_Heels Over Head, _Boys Like Girls

**Anna sat on a couch by the fire, trying to warm her soul. Others also sat about the common room, but it was as if an impenetrable bubble surrounded her, for none would sit too close. The room was silent except for the burning logs, furtive whispers, and fluttering of the dry pages of books.**

**Suddenly, the portrait whole banged open and heads shot up. Panting, Sirius and Remus stumbled in, holding onto their sides, and hanging on each other for support as they tried to catch their breath. Some students rolled their eyes good-naturedly before returning to their studies, while others watched with intent curiosity as the pair crossed the room to sit on either side of Anna. Taken by surprise, she stared at them as they attempted to gather enough oxygen to speak. Finally, Remus managed to blurt out a few disjointed words.**

"**We have…have to talk to you…right now", he gasped.**

"**It's about….James…and Lily. We know…wasn't you", Sirius added breathlessly. Anna just nodded, confused yet hopeful, as they began their story.**

**Between the two of them, they were able to repeat the story to her as she sat in silent astonishment, her eyes wide. When they had finished, she sat back in disbelief.**

"**Well….that certainly clears up a lot," she finally managed, her voice colored with relief that things were finally beginning to make sense. "We have to tell them, but how? Neither of them will come near me."**

"**We'll take care of it. Sirius can go to James and I'll handle Lily. She'll probably be more willing to believe me," Remus said, ignoring Sirius' indignant look at the last part.**

"**Oh, but how will you tell Lily? She's in her dormitory, and you know the staircase is bewitched," Anna pointed out.**

**They looked around, pondering. Then, his face lighting up, Sirius got up and walked over to a solitary girl who was reading a book by the light of a lamp. She appeared to be their age or slightly younger. Kneeling beside her, Sirius spoke to her, too softly for Remus or Anna to hear. They watched as the girl nodded, replied to a comment of Sirius', smiled, then nodded again before marking her place carefully in her book, putting it down, and walking into the girl's dormitory, looking slightly flustered. Standing, Sirius came back to the couch and sat down again. Anna and Remus looked at him with raised eyebrows.**

"**Sirius, what on earth did you just do to that poor girl?" Remus asked, looking amused, but not as it that sort of thing had never happened before.**

"**Nothing, I merely used my natural charm and suavity to ask if she would kindly fetch Lily for me." Sirius looked at them innocently, the affect slightly **

**shook her head. "Poor girl; she never stood a chance. I better move though, if Lily's coming down." Her laughter died, and so saying, she took an empty chair and dragged it to a partially concealed corner, grabbing a discarded book as she went.**

"**You should go talk to James, Sirius, so that things can go back to normal as soon as possible." Sirius nodded and bounded away and up the stairs. Remus sat back against the couch, marveling at the turn of events.**

**

* * *

**

**Lily and James both listened silently to the tale, a wide range of emotions wavering across their faces. At the end of it, James was silent and still, and Sirius, understanding, left him to his thoughts. Closing the door behind him and locking it to prevent anyone from interrupting James, he leaned over the banister. Seeing Lily and Remus talking earnestly, he sat down on the stone stairs and let his own thoughts have rein for awhile.**

* * *

"**Why hasn't he ever told me himself that he didn't want to kiss her?" Lily asked, seeming to not want to dare hope that what Remus had told her was true.**

"**Really, Lily, did you ever give him the chance? Did any of us?" Remus quirked an eyebrow at her, a small, wry small on his lips. She inclined her head, acknowledging this statement. **

"**So……you're absolutely, 100 positive of this, right?" she asked quietly, still wary. Remus nodded, and Lily finally let her guard down completely. She could feel hope starting to envelope her warmly, and the love she had been trying to suppress rose to the surface of her heart, renewed and revived with a new strength. Smiling, she grabbed Remus in a tight hug. As he gently patted her back, he felt her tears seeping through his shirt. It didn't bother him, however, for he knew that they were no longer tears of a broken heart, but a mended one. **


	25. Never Too Late

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Never Too Late**

"It's not too late;

It's never too late"

_Never Too Late, _3 Days Grace

"Now I'm picking up this pieces…putting my heart back together"

_Over You_, Daughtry

**The next morning, a Saturday, James came out of the dormitory even later than usual. He had woken early, but had spent a little while longer trying to mull through the last of night's thoughts. Remus and Sirius and seen through the sleeping act when they had woken up, but had once again given him his privacy.**

**James was nervous as he walked out of the deserted, lonely common room. He was sure Lily knew the truth now, but he was still anxious about how she felt about him, and the situation in general. Had she decided, while they were separated, that she preferred being single instead of dating him? Had the separation been long enough for her to lose her feelings for him? He had always known she was too good for him; had she realized this as well? What if she had found someone new? James felt sick to his stomach at the thought, and had to stop for a moment, holding his midriff. He had to know though. No matter how much reality hurt, he knew he had to talk to Lily.**

**He started walking again, watching the floor and not really knowing where he was going. That was ok though, he had no idea where Lily was anyway.**

**He had been wandering for a few minutes when a small pair of completely black converse stopped in front of him. He mumbled an apology and started to walk around them, forgetting to look at who the feet were attached to. He was stopped, however, by a small, beautiful yet hesitant voice.**

"**James?" He looked up with wide eyes. "Can…can we talk for a bit?"**

"**Yeah, sure, of course," he replied, his stomach clenching painfully. He followed her into an empty classroom, shutting the door behind him. He walked over to where she was standing.**

"**James…Remus explained to me what really happened. I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry for not going to you for the truth, and for not listening when you tried to tell me. I'm really, really sorry." She trailed off, not meeting his eyes.**

"**Don't worry about it, Lils. I understand. I just want to know though…is it too late? Am **_**I**_** too late? I won't be mad or anything if you've moved on…I wouldn't blame you at all." He broke off. She looked up for the first time, meeting his eyes and seeming startled.**

"**James, it'll never be too late." She smiled softly at him before stepping hesitantly closer. He grinned back, closing the remaining distance between them. He placed one hand gently on her waist, while the other came up to stroke her cheek. She closed her eyes, her smile full now, leaning her head into his hand. Turning her head softly to face him, he gently placed his lips on hers, smiling into the kiss.**

A/N: _First off, let me apologize for the long wait for such a short chapter. I'm really, really sorry guys, but my band has had practices/competitions/football games every day except Wednesday (which are homework/orthodontist days) and Sundays (chores/homework days...I know, I don't have much of a life...). Not to mention we are going to State this Saturday, so my director has really been piling on the workload. Some good news though: after Saturday, Marching Season will be officially over, so I should have more time to write and update. Until symphonic season starts, that is..._

_Secondly, let me apologize for the cheesy-ness of this chapter. Yes, I know it's so cheesy you could use it as a month's supply of fondue cheese, but it's really kind of hard writing a touching get-back-together scene that doesn't make the author smell like Swiss and American for a week. So sorry, but it was a tad bit necessary._

_So besides the unfortunate lenght and waiting period, I hope you enjoyed it :) Review if you did, review and constructively criticise if you didn't :)_

_ibelieveinsnorkacks_


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